


The Word Lust

by LethanWolf



Category: Bleach
Genre: Assistant/Boss, Boss/Employee Relationship, Business, Business Romance, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Friendship, Lemon, M/M, Seme Ichigo, Sex, Slow Build, Slow Romance, Smut, Uke Toushiro, Work, Yaoi, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-10-28 02:13:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 113,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10821621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LethanWolf/pseuds/LethanWolf
Summary: Taking a gap year to earn some cash in New York, Ichigo Kurosaki had no idea what was going to happen to him the moment he saw the diminutive CEO. Mr Hitsugaya is a business prodigy and the world knows it, his quick wit and intense gaze captivates the world, it's no wonder he's the definition of the word 'lust'





	1. He Has A Pocket Watch

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all, 
> 
> This was actually my first ever fan fiction I wrote, so that's why it's a long one and probably why the first few chapters aren't as long as I'd have liked.  
> This piece also has an amazing piece of art to accompany it... but I'll save it for a particular chapter ;)

Lust. It was a four lettered word that Ichigo had never fully understood until this particular day. He wasn’t ever particularly sure of his own sexuality, even now it seemed to still baffle him. He often spent a lot of time with his friend Tatsuki who knew she was a lesbian, she’d drag him to strip clubs in a bid to try and help him figure himself out - it was all deep and meaningful and what a load of shit it was. In Ichigo’s eyes he’d know when he met the right person. That wasn’t to say he hadn’t found himself attracted to people, of course he had. There had been… that… well… there was that… there… okay. Tilting back his head and taking a deep breath he accepted it, he was 23 years old and had never really met anyone that had tickled his fancy.

He wasn’t a virgin; he had slept with a girl from his college one drunken night and found he regretted it the next morning. It had felt good but there had been no connection, the sparks didn’t fly and for the most part it was awkward and uncomfortable. He’d been glad to be able to blame the alcohol and hangover for if it wasn’t for those two things he may actually have to label himself fully as gay for how much the experience counted to him. He ran a hand through his orange hair and only became aware of his surroundings again when someone bumped into him.

‘Oh sorry,’ he spoke turning to look at a lady who was so engrossed in her own phone she hadn’t even noticed that she had collided with his side. He quickly looked down at the sleeve of his white shirt making sure there wasn’t a mark and wriggled his black tie down a little to pop the top button of his shirt open. It was so warm, the sun beat down upon his face and his sharp orange spikes didn’t do much to keep the rays from his eyes. He cupped a hand over his forehead and glanced directly ahead of him, unsure if he was even walking in the right direction.   
First day on the job and he was going to be late, he sighed as he pulled out his phone and checked the directions he had so badly screenshot to try and help him reach his destination quickly.

‘Hitsugaya Industries,’ was apparently directly up ahead and around another corner. His pale brown eyes quickly flickered to the time and he saw that he had ten minutes to make it there in time. This would be the first time he would meet his boss, he had already been interviewed and offered the job by his busy secretary Rangiku. Apparently she wasn’t good at doing the paperwork and that’s where he came in. He was only going to be helping out while taking a gap year from studying. He needed to get a bit of life experience after all he higher education and coursework was pouring out his ears. He couldn’t forget the interaction between himself and Rangiku who instantly decided that she liked him. Most men would call this woman the women of their dreams, she was tall with beautiful baby blue eyes and long legs. More than this her most distinguishing features were her busty breasts that drew eyes no matter where they went in the office. That was what he noticed as she gave him a tour, instantly deciding he was perfect for the job.

Ichigo was remising as he rounded the corner to the building. This was only his second time coming here so it was no wonder he nearly got lost, all the massive buildings looked the same and the street names were hard to see, printed in tiny little writing at the very tops of the shops, what was more is they were always on the opposite side of the street from where you stood and you’d have to squint to read it. He walked towards the frosted windows of the high end building and from here remembered where he was going. His feet instantly took him to the security desk where he told them of his name. The grunting security guard took his picture and printed his security pass which he put on a lanyard around his neck. The lanyard was simple, blue in colour and had the word ‘staff’ printed in white all along it. He used it to get through the security barriers and stepped into one of the large silver elevators. Everyone in this company seemed to be wearing suits and dresses, which Ichigo disliked. He tugged absently at his own tie before remembering his place and attempting to fix it. He’d be meeting the company’s head of today and he needed to be presentable.

He stepped out when the elevator advised of the 55th floor and made his way through the corridors. The place was filled with meeting rooms and each one was behind a frosted looking glass, clear glass doors and graced with a silver looking textile floors. Everything was so clean and expensive looking.

He walked through a glass door and looked towards Rangiku who was sitting behind a massive polished black marbled desk. Her long strawberry red hair could be seen bobbing as she was writing enthusiastically. Ichigo moved towards her desk and put a grin on his face.

‘Hello Rangiku.’ He spoke, rousing the secretary from her current task. Her baby blue eyes met his pale hazelnut gaze and she grinned happily at him.

‘Hello Ichigo, hold fire I just need to finish this and I’ll be right with you.’ He nodded as she continued to write and took this time to glance around. His body was facing her and there was a grey door to his right. He knew this door led to the owner of the entire business itself for upon the door were printed the delicate letters; ‘T. Hitsugaya’

Turning to look around he saw his desk opposite the current one he leaned on and beside the right of the door to Hitsugaya’s office. His desk was identical to Rangiku’s with black marbled surfaces and what looked like a large and overly expensive desk chair. He turned back just in time to see her finishing up and she grinned up at him.

‘Alright basics 101,’ she smiled pursing her lips as he listened intently. ‘Never call Mr Hitsugaya by his first name, he hates it.’ Ichigo was nodding his head as she spoke, in all honesty he was only partly listening. Even though he was sure he was gay his eyes kept running down towards her large breasts, they were fascinating the way the moved and jiggled as she spoke. He knew plenty of gay men who were obsessed with breasts, there was just something fun about them.

‘..his height or age. Got it?’ She finished and his eyes snapped back up to hers to see a quirk in her eyebrow.

‘Yes I got it.’ Truth was he wasn’t at all listening to anything she had said, he had caught the part about how to address him but what was that about his height and age? She sighed and brought papers up from her desk to hit him across the head.

‘I thought you were gay, seriously did you catch anything of what I said?’ She asked with a playful smirk at the corner of her lips. Ichigo was rubbing the side of his head where the papers had collided and blinked sheepishly at her. He could feel colour flooding his cheeks and blinked dumbly.

‘What made you think I was gay?’ She pursed her lips in amusement as the door to the office opened. Turning his attention towards the door, that’s when he saw him. That’s when that four lettered word; ‘lust’ became so apparent in his vocabulary.

 

Toshiro Hitsugaya was probably the most attractive man he had ever seen. If that’s what he could even call him, he looked much more like a boy than anything else. He seriously couldn’t have been any older than 16 years of age. His pale skin stood out in stark contrast to the surrounding black marbled walls of the office and his white hair was swept back away from his face except for a few imposing strands that fell just over his left eye. His high cheekbones led down to a sharp chin, his pink lips stretched into a bored looking line across his face as he slung a black blazer across his board little shoulders. He closed the glass door behind him and turned his gaze on them. His shocking teal eyes caused Ichigo to inhale sharply as they met his, he couldn’t look away he couldn’t even blink, he just stared.

‘Rangiku are those reports done yet.’ He didn’t even seem to ask it as a question, already aware of her answer. Perhaps his tone would suggest this question was rhetorical.

‘No sir, that’s why Ichigo is here to help for the next year.’ She waved a hand at Ichigo and this was the second time that he locked eyes with his new boss. He almost felt his legs want to give way under that dramatic teal gaze. Hitsugayas eyes travelled up and down his new employee but showed no more emotion than a deadlocked expression and a hard set jaw. Ichigo felt himself fighting back a blush under the scrutinizing gaze of his boss, taking a bit of time to marvel at just how well dressed he was. Hitsugaya knew how to dress himself, he wore a white shirt with a black waistcoat, adorned with a deep grey tie. A silver chain wound its way around one of the buttons of his waistcoat and into the pocket on his right, clearly attached to a pocket watch. Long black trousers ended in black shoes that were polished just the right amount. Seriously the only thing this guy was missing was a damn monocle.

 

Ichigo gulped as Hitsugaya walked by him and paid him no attention but instead opened the door to his office and left it open.

‘A word Ichigo.’ He said as he was halfway in the office. Ichigo looked flabbergasted and turned to Rangiku for help. She was hiding her smile behind the very same papers she had used to assault his head with only moments ago. He pleaded at her with his eyes and she lowered the papers enough to just whisper;

‘I knew you were gay.’ With an evil chuckle she waved him into Hitsugayas office after her boss and Ichigo slumped his shoulders in defeat. Not sure he was ready to be alone in the room with this proud man he turned and followed his boss inside.

 

The office was huge. Not that size mattered at all, that’s what people kept saying anyway. The entire opposite wall was pure glass, the dark tint to it meant that people could see out but not in. Even with that dark tint that didn’t stop the sun from streaming into the office. Hitsugayas desk was modest in comparison to the rest of the room. It took the appearance of glass but you could not see through it, the undersides of it were all made of the same hard cold black marble and the closer he got to the desk he noticed there wasn’t much in the way of personality about it. No pictures of family or loved ones, no little desk trinkets simply papers and pens that were kept neatly in a pen holder.

Hitsugaya stood with his back to Ichigo looking out the glass wall into the streets of towering buildings. His hands buried deep in his pockets and his blazer thrown over the armrest of a couch to his left.  

‘Close the door.’ Ichigo paused and doubled back, quickly closing the door with a gentle snap. When he turned back Hitsugaya had turned around and indicated the chair opposite him with a lazy flick of his hand, taking his own place in his own chair. Trying not to smile at the thought that his boss had clearly cranked the seat up enough to be eye level with almost anyone who sat opposite him, Ichigo took his seat.

‘What is your full name?’

‘Ichigo Kurosaki.’ He responded immediately, his hand gripping tightly at the fabric of his dress trousers to try and calm himself down. He couldn’t believe how drop dead gorgeous his boss was, how the hell was he meant to get any work done if this white haired beauty would be floating by his desk each day?

‘What brings you here Kurosaki?’ Hitsugaya asked, placing two hands under his chin and leaning across the table towards him. Teal eyes boring into Ichigo as if reading every slight movement that he made. Ichigo shifted uncomfortably under the gaze and was thoughtful.

‘Well my father recommended this place, he’s friends with Rangiku and knew she needed help, I am good at paperwork and I heard it was only going to be for a year.’ He spoke quickly wanting to leave this office as fast as he could but at the same time feeling rooted to the spot under the intense gaze.

‘I see.’ He was silent for a long while just staring at him then sighed and sat back in his chair. Ichigo watched the shift in his pose, the way his arm muscles tensed as he brought a hand up to run it through his white hair, the way his fingers tugged out towards the end of his white strands.

‘This is a big year for us Ichigo, I am going to be making a lot of first time investments and paperwork is important and inevitable.’ He spoke, his voice was deadpan and laced with a cool crisp pitch. Ichigo found himself nodding encouraging the man to continue speaking as he fought back mental images that arose from the way Hitsugaya tilted his head back and exposed his neck as he contemplated. How would that skin feel against his lips as he brushed it? Would his body be cold like his demeanour or warm if he were to hug him and fuck him on this table- GAH. He had to stop these thoughts right now, this was no place to be having them and his trousers were way to tight to not show off exactly what had been going through his mind.

‘I know it might seem boring but if you can help us out this year I would be very appreciative, Rangiku will be able to answer most of your questions. I just need you to look over some things before I sign them off for approval and double check against my notes that people have kept to their word before contracts are signed. Is that understood Kurosaki?’

‘Yes sir.’ Ichigo said, hoping he wasn’t quite finished yet as he could still feel a slight tightness in his pants from the way his mind had drifted a few seconds ago.

‘Good you’re dismissed.’ Hitsugaya said and thankfully to Ichigo he turned in his chair to glance out the back glass window pane again. Ichigo stood quickly and turned away from the desk walking quickly to the door and stopped when he heard Hitsugaya’s voice again behind him.

‘Oh Kurosaki another thing, please keep Matsumoto in line for me, she often forgets that nights out are not as important as her work.’ Ichigo turned just his head, keeping his partial boner from view as he caught Hitsugayas eyes.

‘Yes sir, I will.’ With that he quickly exited the office, snapping the door shut behind him. He leaned against it for a moment on the other side.

 

Well shit.


	2. Questions are Important!

This was getting pathetic now, he’d been working at the business for a few weeks and still didn’t know anything about his boss. He had obviously instantly googled him as soon as he got access to the internet that day they met. He was a child prodigy, 18 years old and already a millionaire. He specialised in investments especially for movies and tv shows, building and expanding his business he would invest money into certain projects and reap the rewards if they went well, which they always seemed to do. He had graduated college early at the age of only 16 years old and had instantly started his own company. There were barely any personal interviews of him anywhere on the internet for he avoided them and never really spoke much to anyone, thus he had earned himself several names including the ‘man of ice’ and ‘cold Hitsugaya.’ Ichigo found it all rather interesting and from what he could see any pictures of the man, whom was very photogenic, he kept a stoic look upon his face. In none of his pictures was he ever smiling, not even the ones for the front of Business monthly. He had clicked out of the internet images search only to see a section posted in vogue about an upcoming shoot with the man of ice. At the time he’d asked Rangiku about it but she had stated she knew vogue wanted a strong male figure for a particular article they were running that month and they just so happened to choose him. He’d reluctantly agreed mostly because she had begged him for weeks and wouldn’t let it drop, she wanted free copies of the magazine which they had promised him if he did the shoot.

 

Finally annoyed by her constant persistence he had agreed to do the shoot that was now in a few days time. Besides all the stuff he’d read on the internet Ichigo had literally no exchange with the man since the day they met. Besides the occasional unreciprocated ‘good morning’ that Ichigo would cheerfully throw his way and ‘good evening at night.’ It was becoming bothersome, but not as bothersome as the dreams.

 

That’s right. Ichigo was now so taken with his sexy boss that he was dreaming about him, fairly pleasant dreams too you could add. Dreams he shouldn’t be thinking about at work but sometimes he couldn’t help himself. The sexual tension and desire that clung to him each day that Hitsugaya entered and exited the office left Rangiku smirking and teasing him.

‘My goodness Ichigo, when was the last time you got laid? I can practically smell the sexual frustration from you.’ She teased one Wednesday evening as they were due to finish. It was the evening before the shoot at vogue and as he’d learned they were more than just Hitsugaya’s secretaries they were his assistants, Rangiku was his first assistant and Ichigo was now his second. As his assistants they’d be expected to accompany him to the event.

‘Shut up.’ He growled at her, the familiar colour flourishing across his cheeks as he felt the heat rise up his neck.

‘Oh I need to tell you something, it’s my boyfriend Gin’s birthday tomorrow night, so I actually cannot go to the vogue shoot. You’ll have to go to that alone.’

‘Why would you do that to me?’ Ichigo groaned, he knew that she knew how badly he lusted after their boss. He did not need to accompany him to a provocative photo shoot to be reminded of this.

‘Sorry.’ She gleefully stated, not sounding the least bit sorry for him. Ichigo glared at her, she had earned herself a reputation as an office gossip but he found that she was actually really good at keeping secrets. She had not told a single person about his fondness for the man of ice, not even breathed a word of his sexuality to anyone either.

‘It will be easy just stand at the side with water and be ready to get him a tea or coffee if he asks, remember you’re getting paid overtime for this and he’ll pay well.’ She reminded him and Ichigo sighed. He was trying to save up for his own place, once he was finished studying he was planning on moving back home, but he needed his own money for his own place. Coming all the way out to New York for a year job might have seemed like a tad much, but in truth he had always wanted to visit the illustrious New York so when his father spoke about the emails from Rangiku he’d jumped at the chance to be able to see the lively city.

 

‘Make sure you don’t stay too late.’ Rangiku said as she switched off her two monitors and powered down her computer for the evening. She slung her elegant black coat over her shoulders and picked up her purse smiling at him as she took out her keys.

‘I won’t, I just want to finish this last piece then I will head off.’ He replied, looking down at the pages of paper work and comparing it to Hitsugayas notes. His bosses handwriting was an elegant slanted script, like something you’d have to use photoshop to pull off, yet he made it look so effortless.

‘Alright then goodnight,’ Rangiku called a smile playing at her lips, Ichigo narrowed his eyes at her as she exited. She never missed a beat, of course she knew there something else other than paperwork keeping him here. Hitsugaya had not yet left his office, normally he would leave before them, it was rare for him to stay this late.

Still Ichigo poured over the most recent reports.

 

‘Will provide adequate updates in exchange for the sums provided and provide health and safety forms to staff along with contracted hours…’ Ichigos eyes blurred and he leaned back in his chair rubbing them and blinking heavily. The door to Hitsugayas office opened and Ichigo looked up.

‘Evening sir.’ He said calmly, taking a few moments to let his eyes ravish the clothed youth standing before him.

‘You’re here late.’ Hitsugaya commented not looking at him as he walked past the desk heading for the door. Ichigo noted that he didn’t have his jacket or laptop bag with him, so he wasn’t leaving the office.

‘Yes sir just finishing a report.’

Hitsugaya exited the office and returned a few moments later with two bottles of water clutched in his small hands. He placed one down on Ichigos desk without looking at him and spoke as he made his way into his office leaving the door ajar.

‘If you’re staying late keep hydrated.’   
Ichigo looked at the bottle of cold water and felt warmth spreading through his stomach. So his boss did care? Ichigo hesitated… he’d left his door ajar, something that he never usually did. The room they were in was in the middle of the building away from any natural lighting so he couldn’t tell how dark the sky was but through the ajar office door he could tell that the usual sunlight that flooded the office had greatly diminished and there wasn’t much in the way of lighting in Hitsugayas office.

Feeling bold, Ichigo finished the paper quickly and rose picking the bundle up off his desk. He drew the water bottle up into his hand and skilfully opened it with the same hand, taking a deep drink of the cold liquid and feeling it slide down his throat and into the pools of his stomach. He reattached the lid of the bottle without using his second hand and placed it back on his desk. He walked around the smooth marbled surface and gently knocked on Hitsugayas door.

‘Enter.’ Came the cold drawling voice that Ichigo heard assaulting his dreams most nights.

‘These are ready for your approval sir.’ He said walking forward and putting the papers down on the edge of his desk. Hitsugaya was staring out of his window again, this time leaning against the armrest of his couch. Ichigo watched him for a few moments, hoping he wouldn’t turn around and catch him staring at him. He noticed something was off about his body language, normally his entire demeanour was proud and tall (despite his tiny height) but right now his shoulders seemed to be slumped as if in defeat and his hands clung lazily to his pockets.

‘Thank you.’ He finally said after a few long minutes but did not turn to look at him.

‘Is there something wrong sir?’ Ichigo asked and he heard Hitsugaya sigh and turn around to face him. His teal eyes did nothing more than look at the corner of his desk as he moved towards it.

‘Not really,’ his voice was off, it wavered and there something unsure behind it, almost as if he was inviting Ichigo to ask more without really making it obvious.

‘I’m sorry, it probably isn’t really my place to neither ask nor assume since I do not know you very well despite having worked under you for a few weeks now.’ His voice was almost sad to admit this, like he wished for something more. The tone drew Hitsugayas teal eyes to meet his own. ‘But I am here if you wish to speak.’

‘You seem almost sad that you do not know me well, not many people do.’ Hitsugaya spoke, his voice very matter of fact.

Ichigo considered this for a while then smiled sheepishly, he would ask, there was no harm in it.

‘Alright then sir, three questions, may I ask you three questions that you must answer truthfully?’ Hitsugaya quirked a brow at the odd request narrowing his eyes at Ichigo and attempting to read his face, what was it he really wanted?

Ichigo tried not to look too uncomfortable under the gaze of the powerful man. They sat in silence for a while considering each other.

‘Alright.’ Hitsugaya finally agreed nodding his head. He would play this game, ‘however you must also answer three of my questions truthfully.’ He said as he sat down in his chair waving his hand at the other chair for Ichigo. Ichigo moved towards the chair and sat down opposite his boss, meeting his gaze and trying to keep his voice calm as he thought about the best questions to ask this man of ice.

 

He didn’t want to blow this chance, no one ever got to interview him, this was his one chance to find out something very personal that the internet couldn’t.

‘You may ask your three questions first.’ Hitsugaya nodded at him as he reached across to take a deep drink from the bottle of water he had collected. Ichigo tried not to watch the way his adams apple bounced as he swallowed and how exposed his neck was… just waiting to be ravished, the dim lights coming through the glass from the offices and streets below illuminating his snowy skin perfectly.

‘Alright first question,’ Ichigo contemplated and Hitsugaya eyed him thoughtfully, ‘what did you want to be when you were younger?’ Hitsugayas eyebrows came together and he blinked at Ichigo, the question having caught him completely off guard. What an unusual question to ask, was there a particular reason behind such an absurd question? Hitsugaya tried not to narrow his eyes in suspicion even though that’s what he felt, the strawberry blond sitting opposite him sat with an air of casual humour as he waited for him to answer.

‘I wanted to be a lawyer, then an astronaut then a vet.’ He spoke as he watched Ichigo. Ichigo was clearly waiting for him to elaborate on his answer however that was not the game they were playing, he had answered his question. With a smirk he encouraged the next question with his eyes. Ichigo had to stop himself from pouting at the limited answer he had received and was thoughtful for a while.

‘Question two, what’s got you so worked up tonight?’ Ichigo asked, this was really the question that drove this silly game of his in the first place. Hitsugaya placed a hand thoughtfully under his chin and looked at the corner of his desk again as he thought about how best to answer this.

‘I don’t like photo shoots. The one I have to do tomorrow with Vogue is part of the reason why I am still awake. I do not like being in the centre of attention.’ He replied simply, again giving Ichigo no more expansion on his answer. Ichigos eyes narrowed, he wasn’t really getting very far with this game of his and his bosses smirking face was just making him a lot more frustrated. He’d wipe that smirk off his face he if kissed him, he knew that for sure. He wanted to see that little mask of the man crack, he wanted to completely dominate him. Alas that was never going to happen and who knew when he’d get an opportunity like this again? To ask something really personal and intimate, Ichigo put his two arms on the desk and leaned forward, locking his bosses cool teal eyes with his own chocolate brown eyes. If Hitsugaya was uncomfortable by the shift in proximity he didn’t show it, he didn’t lean back, nor did he have too, the desk was quite long and there was still at least two feet between their faces.

‘Final question.’ Ichigo announced searching that deadlocked face with his eyes, trying not to highlight all the possible areas worth kissing in his mind but searching for a reaction to the next question.

‘Are you gay?’

 

The question hung in the air between the two of them for quite some time. Hitsugaya tensed in his chair, the corners of his eyes hardening slightly and his breathing stopped as he considered Ichigo. He had to praise his boldness, no one had ever outright asked him about his sexuality before. Was there a reason why he asked? He’d perhaps be able to find out with his own questions shortly, for just now he decided to humour him.

‘Yes.’

The answer hung in the air a little longer than the question as Ichigo blinked in shock, he had not expected Hitsugaya to answer the question he had been frantically searching the internet for, for weeks now. Seeing that he had taken Ichigo by surprise Hitsugaya sat back in his chair again and chuckled. The sound was so foreign on lips that Ichigo had to do a double take just to make sure that the sound had come from him and not someone else hidden in the office.

‘My turn.’ His eyes flashed wickedly and Ichigo gulped uncomfortably.

‘Tell me everything about yourself.’ He asked casually and Ichigo’s mouth fell to the floor.

‘That’s not fair.’

‘Hmm?’

‘That’s like… that’s going to give you way more information than I got from you.’ Ichigo pouted as Hitsugaya chuckled.

‘Ichigo it is not my fault you lack the understanding of asking proper open questions.’ Ichigo continued to pout, his puppy dog eyes melting away the façade that was Toshiro Hitsugaya. However his boss simply shook his head, not falling for this trick and waved for him to continue.

‘Fine,’ Ichigo growled in defeat and began to recount how he’d grown up, his family and his friends back home. He mentioned briefly about his mother passing away when he was young and thought he saw a flash of sympathy pass across the usually stoic visage of his boss, however in a blink of an eye it was gone. Once he was done with all the basics Hitsugaya nodded his approval at the lengthy answer he had received from his question.

‘Next question,’ he mused bringing the tip of his thumb up to bite on it lightly as he contemplated. The movement would have been very sexual had Ichigo not been so horribly annoyed at how this game of his had backfired.

‘Describe your sexual preferences and why.’ He asked and Ichigo groaned at this new question. They were so well worded and demanded so much information.

‘This isn’t _fair_.’ He groaned in defeat and brought his head down on top of the desk. He heard that familiar chuckle and looked up to see a sparkle of mischief in his boss’s eyes.

‘Come now Ichigo this was your game, I expect you to finish it.’ Now that Ichigo looked at him, his boss seemed a lot happier and more relaxed than he had when he first walked into his office and offered this silly challenge. If anything at least that was worth something to the strawberry blond, who enjoyed seeing him smile and chuckle instead of looking sad and defeated.

‘Fine.’ He grumbled and sat back up, nice and straight this time relaxing back into his chair. ‘It’s a hard question for me to answer because I’m not even sure myself.’ He felt his boss’s eyes dancing across his own face and felt heat rise up his neck and spread across his face. ‘I’ve been with a girl once but it… didn’t feel right.’ Curse his heated cheeks, he was now sure his face was matching his hair under his boss’s scrutinizing gaze. ‘Oddly enough I’ve only really found myself attracted to men.’ He should have said ‘man’ but didn’t want to draw attention to the fact it was only one man he’d ever lusted after in his life and it just so happened to be the very man sitting across the table from him.

When he snuck a look at Hitsugaya out the corner of his eye he noticed that his teal eyes were staring off into the distance, a slight smile to his lips as he swirled absentmindedly in his chair. Ichigo wanted to know the reason behind that smile so much, there was so much more he wanted to ask now that he’d realised the wording of the questions was important. Without a word Hitsugaya stood up and pulled his blazer jacket off the back of his chair and onto his shoulders as if he were getting ready to leave, he’d taken his car keys out of his pocket too. Ichigo watched him curiously, he still had one question to ask.

‘My last question will be a closed one,’ he mused as he watched Ichigo stand up from his chair and stare at him.

He walked around the desk so that he was standing close to Ichigo who was staring down at the man, his eyes locked into those deep teal pools and his mouth slightly ajar at their proximity.

‘Have you thought about fucking me across this desk?’

 

The question was so unexpected… so out of the blue… so damn true that Ichigo’s face completely gave away the answer before he ever had the chance to splutter something coherent out. ‘N-No!’ He quickly gasped and he saw Hitsugaya smirk, the movement was playful and teasing and once again left Ichigo feeling the need to kiss it off his face.

‘You promised to be honest.’ He commented back, his voice laced with a teasing tone.

Ichigo looked straight down at his feet which shuffled uncomfortably on the floor under his body.

‘Yes.’ He finally groaned and refused to look his boss in the eyes. Now he knew, oh god why on earth did he think that this game was good idea? He’d not be able to show face tomorrow at work at all. He felt mortified and all because he wanted to get to know the prodigy better, this plan had totally backfired on him.

 

With a chuckle the smaller man walked towards the door to exit the office, picking up his laptop bag as he went. Ichigo had to redeem himself he needed to finish still on a high with this game. He turned around just as Hitsugaya was about to close the door behind him and quickly called.

‘Wait sir, can I ask you one more question?’

‘You just did.’ Snap the door closed behind him and he was gone. Leaving Ichigo mentally cursing his own stupidity. He could see now why this little legend had become a powerful business man, he certainly knew how to play games and he was a very quick thinker.

‘Damn that smug little bastard.’ Ichigo fumed, how the hell was he meant to face him tomorrow?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A kudos would be appreciated...


	3. Vogue

It was the morning of the shoot and the morning after that horrific evening with his boss. He’d have to be alone with him for most of the day probably into the evening as well since Rangiku had decided to spend the day with her boyfriend. This was rubbish, she was the one who _forced_ Hitsugaya into doing this bloody shoot in the first place so she could get free magazines. Ichigo grumbled as he brought his two hands up to run through his bright orange hair, he dragged them dramatically down his face, not caring for the excessive force as he felt as his hands tugged at his facial features. Perhaps he could just suffocate himself with his own hands and not have to go into work? That might work… if he could just do it hard enough.

 

His thoughts were interrupted by his rather obnoxious alarm clock signalling the start to this awful day. Ichigo turned to glare at it, hoping that it would just be quiet for ten minutes longer. No such luck, it continued to sound until he yanked it from its position atop the apex of his side table drawer and was about to launch it across the room before he took a few steadying breaths. Okay, time to calm. He pressed the button calmly and replaced it back on the small table. He swung his legs around and let his bare feet touch the plush carpet of his studio apartment. Obviously he couldn’t really afford much here, this place was perfect for him anyway. It was clean and tidy and small and didn’t require much looking after. There was a large double bed around the corner from the front door with a screen keeping it from view of the larger main living space. There was a double seated couch facing towards the TV which hung on the wall opposite the main door, in the corner furthest to his bed was a round oak table with three chairs set around it. Behind the couch was a large cupboard that served more as a walk in wardrobe and place to store his stuff. The kitchen was located as soon as you walked in and took up room on either side of the door. With the fridge, stove and counter tops to the left and a freezer, microwave and another counter top to the right it was a perfect place for someone living alone. The bathroom was just to the right as you walked through the dinky kitchen and made the bulk of the wall on the right that hid the bed from view of the main door. Overall the place was tidy and clean and he kept it that way. He rose and stretched out, heading around the corner to the bathroom door and closing it behind him. He looked at himself in the mirror and groaned, you could tell he had not slept well. There were purple bags forming under his eyes and he scowled at himself before stepping into the shower.

 

His mind had gone over and over what had happened the evening before in Hitsugaya’s office, it had stopped him getting to sleep. He wished he could turn back time and do it all over again that was probably one of very limited chances he had to actually get to know the man of ice and he’d blown it. What’s worse? He’d admitted to wanting to fuck him across the desk. Mortified Ichigo turned on the shower and stepped inside, the urge to drown himself rising. He took a deep breath and exhaled, placing his forehead against the cool tiles as he let the hot water beat down on his back. He needed a plan of action, what would Hitsugaya expect least? Maybe for him to act like nothing had happened at all? He could do that, play dumb. What if Hitsugaya asked him about it? Openly… should he deny it or play along? Ichigo gulped, did he have the balls to be that… flirtatious with the company’s CEO?

 

He sighed and decided to play it cool, if he was confronted he’d attempt to see what the best course of action was in that moment. He hardly expected that Hitsugaya would expect him to play along and be as flirty and bold back, so perhaps that would be the best route to take. Happier with an action plan he stepped out the shower and dried off, putting on his suit for the day. Black dress pants, white shirt, navy blue tie and navy blue blazer, if anything else failed at least he felt like he looked and smelt good. He took his leave of his tiny studio apartment and out onto the streets. He was very lucky that the office where he worked was only four blocks away. He’d only ever get a taxi if it were raining heavily, however as it was coming up to the end of summer he decided to walk, feeling the sun hit down upon the back of his neck and enjoyed watching all the people around him busying about their usual daily activities.

 

He put his headphones in and pulled his phone from his pocket, he’d recently developed a love for the strange sounds of dubstep mixed with violin so set a steady pace as he put the song ‘Roundtable Rival’ by ‘Lindsey Stirling’ on. The beats encouraged each step forward and stopped his mind from running back over all the tedious details that had kept him awake. After a couple of songs he found himself standing outside the familiar frosted doors and breathing heavy. He walked in and made his way over to the silver elevator pressing the button for the floor of the CEO’s office he leaned back against the wall waiting for the doors to shut when another figure walked in. He opened his eyes and mentally groaned. Of course it was him. Hitsugaya stood a little in front of him with his back to him clearly not caring much for starting a conversation. Ichigos eyes moved up and down his torso. His fitted black blazer was on this time and caused his white hair to stand out even more. He noticed that the blazer was tailored so that it was longer at his hips but rose up over his perfect buttocks, probably so he didn’t sit on it when he sat down. His ass was literally the perfect size for cupping, with two little fake pockets in his black trousers. They had to be fake, nothing could fit in those tight little openings. The right side of his blazer was raised and brush to the side slightly as he had his right hand in the front pocket of his black trousers. Ichigo was aware of the lift doors closing and they were alone. He needed to say something he couldn’t not acknowledge his boss in the elevator.

‘Good morning sir.’ He said his voice a little shaky and unsure.

‘You too,’ came the generic cold reply, Ichigo almost flinched and shuffled a little uncomfortably as he felt the elevator begin to move up. He could see the floor numbers ticking slowly up and he begged it to go faster as he thought about possible small talk.

‘Ready for today?’ He offered watching as the CEO’s back straightened a little more and then saw the familiar slip in his shoulders that he had seen last night before their… conversation.

‘I suppose so.’ He grumbled back, Ichigo wasn’t sure if he was annoyed with his pointless small talk or if he was annoyed at the task that lay before him today. It was harder to tell since he had his back to him. Somewhere during their elevator ride to hell (he could swear the numbers were getting lower not higher). Hitsugaya turned to look at him, turning his head to the left ever so slightly to fix him with his teal gaze. Thankfully at the time Ichigo had not been staring at his perfectly sculpted ass, instead he had been browsing through spotify on his phone. He felt the stare and that was what caused him to look up. Hitsugaya did not look away the same way a normal person would when caught looking at someone. Instead he continued to stand there with his left eye fixed upon Ichigo.

  
Ichigo felt colour rise in his face now under that intense gaze. It was hard to tell what was going through the mind of the snow haired man as his eyes licked up and down Ichigos entire body. Never had he felt so bloody self conscious, he wanted to ask ‘ _what?’_ but decided against it, instead quirking a curious eyebrow at Hitsugaya who only turned away with a slight smirk playing around his lips when the elevator voice called their floor. The silver doors slid open and Hitsugaya walked out and down the hallway leading to his office. Ichigo hadn’t realised the sexual tension until his CEO had left the elevator but there were still traces of it left behind, with a sigh he followed a few steps behind Hitsugaya, wanting to be far enough away that he wouldn’t need to speak. He listened as other employees wished Hitsugaya a good morning and he nodded back to each in turn. Regardless of what was said about him, it was clear everyone else liked him in the office. This brought a little sliver of hope to Ichigo as he followed Hitsugaya into the office and took his place at his desk as the younger boy made his way into his own office. Nothing else was said as Ichigo sat down and instead the door to the CEO’s office closed with its usual snap. Releasing a deep sigh he glared across at the empty desk opposite him. Rangiku would have to make this up to him he was going to have to work twice as hard today just to get through all the paperwork. He glanced at the clock, it was just after 8:30am, and the shoot at Vogue would start at 2pm and last well into the evening he’d been told. Why it would take so long he had no idea but apparently it would, something to do with lighting checks and outfit changes. He turned and began work on the current stack of paperwork in front of him; it was going to be a long day.

 

At lunch time Ichigo was rubbing his eyes. Not only were they sleep deprived but he had been squinting at the worlds smallest font for over 3 hours straight. He’d only permitted himself one bathroom break and skipped off to grab a quick coffee before coming back to his desk to continue. Hunger gripped his stomach as he remembered he hadn’t even had breakfast this morning. He sat back in his chair and stared longingly at the door to Hitsugayas office. He knew exactly what he’d want to do on his lunch break, but alas that thought had to be pushed from his mind as he rose and collected his blazer from the back of his seat. With a flourish of fingers he locked his work station and put his papers in a leather binder so they weren’t left face up on his desk before heading to the elevators.

 

A quick sandwich, a few bottles of water and an iced latte later and he was walking out of the local sandwich shop just down the road from his work. He’d picked the bottles of water up knowing that Rangiku had told him exactly what kind of water Hitsugaya liked to drink when doing any kind of out – of – work- related task, such as a shoot. It was an important brand of water unique to Scotland called; Highland Spring. Apparently it was the only kind of water that he’d drink from a bottle and Rangiku had already been in touch with the store manager to regularly import it for the companies young CEO. Ichigo turned the bottle over and over in his hand, recognising it as the same bottle that the prodigy had put down on his desk the night before. It had a purple pop top and the paper that circled around the bottle in his hand boasted large purple mountains with the sign ‘Highland Spring’ clearly etched across the front decorated by a Scottish thistle. Ichigo shrugged and put the bottle back in his bag, he wasn’t quite sure why this particular brand of water had come into Hitsugaya’s life but figured he’d question Rangiku about it later, the two of them had started to get quite close after all.

 

Jumping back into the office he could feel butterflies settling into his stomach now as he glanced at the time. His hour lunch was over and it was now 1pm. They’d have to travel to get to the shoot so he figured they’d be leaving very soon. He busied himself by transferring the 3 large bottles of highland spring water from the plastic bag into his cross body bag and put it across his chest over his blazer. The butterflies were now almost painful, they moved and glided freely in his lower abdomen and he took a delicate swig of his own water to help try and ease them.  He was far too manly for a party of butterflies to be having a rave somewhere inside him and he wasn’t even sure why he was so darn nervous either. The door to the CEO’s office opened and over his marbled desk Ichigo saw the familiar white hair and sharp face.

‘Ready?’ Hitsugaya practically grunted at him, not opening his eyes. He had his hands shoved deep into the fore pockets of his dress trousers and his shoulders had that rather deflated look they had the evening before.

‘Yes sir.’ Ichigos voice seemed to rouse the young prodigy and he stood up a little straighter, squaring his shoulders and motioning for Ichigo to follow him.

 

Ichigo suddenly felt really silly, how were they getting there? Surely not public transport? It was probably likely that a car would be driving them directly to the shoot, he felt silly for even asking so he didn’t. Hitsugaya answered his question anyway by pulling out his phone and answering a silent call.

‘Yes just bring the car around the front please.’ He listened for a few moments as they entered the elevator together. The doors shut and Ichigo pulled in a deep breath. He was standing just slightly behind the young prodigy and he could smell his aftershave. It was not entirely overpowering but had a deeply rich manly smell. It took all of Ichigos self control to not breathe in deeply and noticeably as Hitsugaya hung up his phone.

‘Have you ever been to a shoot before?’ The cold voice of the young CEO asked, snapping Ichigos wandering mind back into the present.

‘No sir.’ He replied sharply sneaking a glance to the side of Hitsugaya’s face.

‘It’s rather dull, mostly you’re just going to be standing about. Rangiku has already arranged for my outfits to be there, so there won’t really be much for you to do.’ Hitsugaya mentioned sounding really rather bored by the whole ordeal. Ichigo knew he’d just be there to take orders from his boss when he called him, but mostly he was just there for the eye candy and he knew it. He couldn’t really help the grin that spread across his face at the thought of seeing this young man dress up in all manners of suits and high end clothing. He was distracted for a moment as he realised something… the young prodigy had called Rangiku by her first name, had he always done that? Ichigo was sure he only ever called people by their surnames.

‘That’s alright sir, I’ve actually brought along some paperwork to do while they’re taking pictures and I’ll be right there if you need me for anything.’ Ichigo tried to make his voice flat and professional sounding but he knew somewhere in his voice his excitement had wavered through.

Hitsugaya seemed to notice and he turned to Ichigo to fix him with his usual cold teal gaze. Ichigo didn’t know why he couldn’t keep the grin off his face.

‘You look far too excited for this.’ Hitsugaya mumbled turning away from him as the elevator doors opened and he walked out, Ichigo following behind him.

‘My first time ever being at a shoot sir, I think it will be fun, not to mention my little sister Yuzu loves the magazine. I was going to ask…’ He chuckled to himself for his boldness. ‘If you’d sign a copy of this edition when it comes out for me to send back to her.’   
Hitsugaya stumbled as Ichigo passed him, turning to face his boss who straightened up, a rare flash of pink fluttering across his usually frosty visage. Ichigo spotted it and almost had to do a double take, he’d never once seen the CEO blush and he had to admit it looked very endearing on him. He almost wanted to reach out a hand and stroke the colour to see if his face was still as cold as it normally looked or if that little smudge of delicate pink brought new warmth.

‘You want me to sign a copy… of the magazine.’ He finally managed to choke out before composing himself and fixing Ichigo with a glare. ‘What a thing to ask, don’t be so absurd I am no celebrity.’ He brushed passed Ichigo who wasn’t at all put off by the brash display from the younger boy but instead felt the grin return to his face again.

‘You maybe wouldn’t class yourself as one sir but appearing on the cover of a vogue magazine kind of means you are weather you see yourself that way or not.’ Ichigo stated, hearing Hitsugaya click his tongue impatiently.

‘There will be no signing of anything from me Kurosaki. I have enough shenanigans to deal with thanks to Matsumoto and I don’t need anything of the sorts from you.’

His voice ended in a way that made it clear to Ichigo the topic was closed as they walked out the doors to the building and down towards a black car that was waiting for them. A driver in a suit with curly brown hair greeted them enthusiastically as he held the door open for them to get inside. Ichigo watched as Hitsugaya slipped effortlessly into the back seat and slid over to give him enough room to enter as well. It was almost sad that the boy was too small that he didn’t need to bend over to get in, Ichigo could really have done with his tight little ass being closer to his face. Scowling at his own thoughts Ichigo slipped into the car after him and whistled at the interior. It was light beige leather that covered all the seats. The car was slightly longer than your average car and had plenty of foot space in front of them. There was a black window that the driver sat behind but the back of the car was completely secluded. They couldn’t see the driver nor hear him as he got into the car and ready to drive away. Ichigo noticed an assortment of buttons on a panel to Hitsugaya’s left and figured one was probably an intercom button for the driver. He knew that the car had dark tinted windows and figured it was probably to give the CEO as much privacy as he needed.   
Feeling eyes on his face as he eagerly looked around the amazing interior, Ichigo turned to the younger boy with a massive grin spread across his face. He wasn’t sure but he thought he almost saw Hitsugaya’s mouth twitch into a smile at his own amusement.

‘You’re very easily impressed.’ He stated, his mouth falling back into its usual cute frown.

‘I know.’ Ichigo couldn’t contain himself, he was so excited, his boss wasn’t acting too strange given what had happened the evening before. He was getting to spend almost an entire car trip there and back with the sexiest man on the planet and he’d also get to watch him dressed up in loads of amazing (and possibly sexy) outfits.

‘I wish I shared your enthusiasm.’ Hitsugaya mumbled before reaching down to a small container between their two seats. He yanked it open and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and two crystal glasses. Ichigo eyed the pale brown liquid in the bottle with uncertainty as his boss poured the two of them a glass. He handed Ichigo one of the glasses and drank his in one gulp, only making a slight face as it hit the back of his throat. Ichigo quickly looked at the liquid to avoid being caught staring at the man. It was just fascinating watching him drink something like whisky which was usually a very high prestige type of alcohol.

‘Thank you,’ Ichigo spoke and realised he was being watched again as he threw back the liquid into his own mouth. It was maybe two mouthfuls in the glass at best and he felt it burn. It instantly unblocked all sinuses, even ones he was pretty sure didn’t exist and it stung the back of his throat like a hot iron. He grimaced a little but tried not to pull any faces, aware that his sexy boss was watching him. Ichigo met those teal eyes which seemed to be giving him some kind of silent approval as Hitsugaya took his glass back and another round was poured.

‘Will this help you sir?’ Ichigo asked, nodding his head to the glasses as he poured another two.

‘Yes, so drink up.’ Hitsugaya mumbled. Ichigo frowned, he hadn’t realised that the shoot was making his boss this nervous.

‘Why do it then sir? If you’re this against it why not tell Rangiku no and not bother?’ He lifted the glass easily from Hitsugayas hand as it was handed to him, feeling his finger tips brush his boss’ hand. The young prodigy seemed to not notice as he thoughtfully stared at the back of the seat in front of him.

‘I made a promise to Rangiku, lets just leave it at that.’ He sighed sitting back in his chair and tossing the second glass back. Ichigo watched him and felt bad, he’d been so happy about this shoot but now he realised how uncomfortable the young male was with it, it made it harder to look forward to. Ichigo quickly tossed his own glass back and thanked him once again.

 

The car ride was mostly quiet. At one point Hitsugaya had demanded Ichigo’s phone and plugged it in so he could assess his music taste. Ichigo was feeling very violated as Hitsugaya scrolled down his spotify playlists with a smirk plastered on his face. At one point the young prodigy laughed out loud and Ichigo nearly broke his neck yanking across to see what the man had discovered on his phone. The noise of the laugh had been so genuine, so breath taking that had it not been for the most uncomfortable position that Ichigo was in (having his music taste analysed was beyond uncomfortable). Ichigo probably would have just stared at the teal eyed beauty and the octaves that rung out in the car when he’d done it.

‘What is this?’ Hitsugaya chuckled mischievously, his eyes flashing at the small screen, ‘what is this? Kurosaki? KT Tunstall? Really?’ The younger man clicked down on the touch screen and Ichigo recognised the opening guitar beats to one of his favourite songs by the artist. _Suddenly I see._

Ichigo could feel colour rising in his cheeks yet he was absolutely prepared to defend his music taste to the death.

‘Sir if you don’t have an appreciation for good music you can kindly hand my phone back.’ The orange haired man pouted and Hitsugaya chuckled turning back to look down at the phones screen.

‘Who said I don’t? I prefer Other Side of the World more than this song but it’s still pretty decent.’

Ichigo blinked at the man, that was probably one of the first personal things he’d learned about this mysterious white haired beauty. Ichigo wished he could remember the lyrics to that song or how it went however at the moment with the current song playing he couldn’t. He took a mental note to listen to it later to remind himself about the song.

‘Well, you never struck me as a man who’d like KT Tunstall sir.’ Ichigo blinked at him but the man never said anything and didn’t take the bait to try and encourage him to open up more. Instead his smile fell back into its usual frown as he continued his violating on Ichigos phone. Keeping his eyes firmly on the phone to ensure his boss did not stray into his web history searches or – lord forbid – images.

‘Calm down Kurosaki you’re so on edge.’ Came the cold voice with a hint of teasing, and Ichigo realised he’d been holding his breath, he breathed out and managed a small laugh. ‘What’s got you so on edge?’ His boss pushed further, turning to fix Ichigo with his teal gaze which was sparkling with mischief.   
Ichigo tried not to let his breath choke in his throat at the curious look and instead took a deep breath, breathing out through his nose and answered him.

‘That phone is very personal to me, it’s strange having it in someone else’s hands sir, I only ever hand it to people when they’re going to put their number in.’

Hitsugaya raised a questioning brow at him, what Ichigo hadn’t realised was that he’d asked the question to distract him, as he’d been distracted the young prodigy had slipped into his images and held the phone up to Ichigos face with a rather mortifying picture on it.   
It was a picture that Ichigo had drunkenly sent a friend as part of a dare, a picture of him in only jeans with his chest fully exposed and just a chain around his neck. Orange spikes wet with moisture from a shower he’d just come out of. Completely mortified he reached over to grab the phone back but the young prodigy was far too quick for him, pulling it out of reach with a wicked grin spreading across his face.

‘Now, now Kurosaki you’re going to interrupt the music if you take it off me now, besides.’ Ichigo watched in horror as the teal eyes flew back to the image of himself partially exposed on the small screen. ‘I wasn’t done stalking through these rather provocative images of you.’

Not having any of it Ichigo groaned and continued to reach out helplessly for the device. ‘Please sir, please don’t,’ he moaned to the white haired man, who chuckled at him and waved the phone around.

‘Alright I promise I’ll stop.’ He locked the screen and placed the phone on top of the armrest between them where the aux cable would still reach to be able to keep the music playing. Ichigo felt a lot better having the phone somewhere where he had more control over it but totally mortified that his boss had seen so much of him. Now his thoughts were running back to the image, what had he thought of it? Had he liked the image, had he not liked it? At the time of sending the image to his friend Ichigo had made sure that he was well toned, working out and eating right otherwise he’d never have agreed to it. He was confident with how his body looked but still really shy and innocent around displaying it. He snuck a little look over at his boss but couldn’t see his face because he was looking out the window, it was hard to tell but Ichigo could swear that he saw a smile reflected back in the window.

 

It wasn’t long after the mobile incident – that’s what he was going to refer to it as – when they finally arrived outside the building of Vogue. Hitsugaya turned to Ichigo and pushed the remaining bottle of whiskey towards him.

‘Put this in your bag.’ He hissed his eyes looking out towards the building with distaste. ‘Lord forbid I might need it.’

Doing as he was told Ichigo slotted it into his bag keeping it close to the water that he had put in earlier. He frowned, Rangiku had been pretty strict about the water, so Ichigo would have to make sure that he got his boss to drink at least some of it.

The driver opened the car door and Ichigo climbed out first, stopping to adjust his shirt and bag as Hitsugaya climbed out the car. He placed a hand in his side pocket as he normally did and walked ahead of Ichigo towards the building.

  
Once inside they were lead up to the studio where all the photography took place, the room itself was massive with three different sections set up for shoots. It wasn’t a room so much as an entire open floor separated only with beams and a couple of walls to keep the place structurally secure. Ichigo had to admit it was rather impressive, there were a lot of people busying about, putting lights up and bringing out costumes.

There was a table along one of the windows that hosted some food as well as an area for teas and coffees. He was looking at that when their enthusiastic and rather camp photographer came towards them.

‘Hello there Mr Hitsugaya I’m Yumichika,’ he said in a very feminine voice. ‘I will be your photographer today, now we have a changing room at the back that you can use when going between the different suits, some will just require a simple jacket and tie change.’ His eyes flickered over to Ichigo and the smile that was on his lips while speaking to Hitsugaya faltered.

‘Who is this? Your boyfriend?’ He asked and Ichigo could have sworn he’d heard an air of jealousy laced in his voice.

‘My assistant.’ Came the cold voiced correction and Yumichika smirked, clearly a lot happier with this response.

At this moment two women came over to fuss over Hitsugaya and lead him off to have his hair and makeup done for the shoot.

Ichigo kept back watching with some amusement as everyone went about their work. He kept his eyes on the white haired beauty, the stylists seemed to be doing their best to try and make small talk with him but he was having none of it. He refused to talk and Ichigo saw them exchange a look of annoyance with each other. The whole thing made Ichigo happy, after their little exchange and friendly banter in the car on the way over he realised just how lucky he was that this stony man could even laugh and carry a conversation with him, even if it was at Ichigos expense. He’d take it if it meant he’d be able to hear his boss’ sexy laugh again.

 

The shoot was boring to begin with, he didn’t change out of the suit he’d worn that day and stood in front of a grey background. They’d changed the colour around so many times, they didn’t want to go with black because his suit was black and they didn’t want to go for white because it didn’t compliment his hair. In the end they settled on a grey backdrop and were casually going about taking the first few starting pictures. Ichigo noticed how bored Hitsugaya looked by the whole ordeal, they kept instructing him to remove his hands from his pockets but somehow they always made it back in.

When he left to go for his first costume change Ichigo walked towards him pulling a bottle of the water out his bag. He handed it to the younger male who drank a good third of the bottle in one go, grumbling incoherently under his breath. He thanked Ichigo and walked inside the changing room where his clothes had been left. Ichigo waited on the window still just outside the changing room and only turned back when he heard the door opening. His breath caught in his throat. Hitsugaya was wearing a white suit, the pockets and rims were laced with black edges and underneath he wore a black shirt which he’d popped the top two buttons of. He was casually fixing his cuffs when he finally glanced up to see Ichigo staring at him. Ichigo couldn’t help it, he never thought a white suit would look good on him given his hair was white but _damn_ did it look good on him, so good that Ichigo wanted to rip it off… very slowly piece by piece.

‘You’re staring.’

‘You look good in white sir you should wear it more often.’

‘So you can stare some more.’

‘So everyone in the office can.’

Hitsugaya obviously wasn’t ready for the compliment and he did a double take narrowing his eyes at the older man. Ichigo just grinned under the intense gaze.

‘The suit brings out your eyes sir, I think they should go with this look for the cover picture.’

Continuing to try and fix his cuffs, the younger man snorted and shook his head. ‘They’ll make me try about another ten of these on then probably just go with the images from the very first thing I wore anyway.’

Before Ichigo could say anything else they were ushering the young man off once again to take his place up in front of the camera. This time they were trying a few more poses, in each one Hitsugaya looked bored but the suit and the lighting, the way he pulled his shoulders back for each shot and the way he glared into the camera all carried an air of assertive authority and dominance that was intriguing to watch unfold. He made sexy look effortless and Ichigo groaned. How he’d love to be the one to take him home at the end of the night and remove all these stunningly handsome clothes from his toned little body.

 

The next outfit was another one that Ichigo adored, a white shirt covered by a black waist coat, the pocket watch was back in place and this time he wore a simple black bow tie. Ichigo managed a cheesy grin when he saw it and Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes at him.

‘One mention of the bow tie and I’ll make your life a living hell at work.’ He snarled fiddling with his cuffs once again. Ichigo chuckled and shook his head, stepping forward and reaching out towards the younger man. Hitsugaya almost yanked back, eyes narrowed wondering what on earth he was doing when he felt the strong hands of Ichigo wrap gently around his wrists and move his arms closer to him. Ichigo fixed his cuffs effortlessly before taking his own hands away. The teal eyed beauty would never have admitted it but as Ichigo was touching him he felt like electric currents were passing between the two of them.

Ichigo stepped away nodding his approval. ‘Looking sharp sir, water?’ He held out the bottle of water and this time the younger boy finished it.

‘Next time I do a change over have the bloody whiskey ready.’ He spoke, his voice clearly carrying an air of annoyance about it. Sensing the annoyance was not directed at him but directed that the entire shoot, Ichigo saluted to him.

 

This shoot continued for a white then he was asked to remove the waistcoat. Ichigo watched as the strong dominant man removed the waistcoat and held it out for Ichigo to take. He strode over and lifted it from his grasp, noticing that it was still warm from his body heat.

Yumichika took a few testing shots with his large camera and pondered over them, consulting with someone else on the pictures before looking back at Hitsugaya. Ichigo narrowed his eyes, he wasn’t sure why but he was getting a funny feeling…

‘Can we remove the bow tie and unbutton the shirt about halfway down?’ Yumichika asked, Ichigo watched as the younger boy froze slightly. He watched as his breathing began to rise and suddenly felt very _very_ protective of the younger male. Though he thought it would be nice to see the younger man in a state of undress he couldn’t help but think that Yumichika was getting him to do it more for his own perversion than anything else. Stepping forward Ichigo raised his concerns.

‘Sorry we were told that this would be a clothed shoot only, I don’t think Mr Hitsugaya wishes to appear as anything other than how he normally dresses to the public.’ It was a bold move on his part, he did it out of protection but it clearly was the wrong move.

‘I don’t need you to stick up for me Ichigo that’s not why you’re here.’ The snarled reply caused Ichigos heart to drop into his stomach.

‘Sorry sir.’ He stepped down instantly realising he’d over stepped his boundaries a little as Hitsugaya was already tossing the bow tie across the room. Popping the buttons on his shirt, Ichigo snuck a little look. It was hard to see from the angle he was at but his boss had a very lean and very toned figure. It was clear that he worked out, the traces of a very prominent six pack present on his body, and it was just a shame that Ichigo couldn’t see more of it.

 

When the shoot finally came to an end Ichigo realised that his earlier comment had actually upset the younger man more than he’d realised. It wasn’t until they were getting in the car for the drive back home that Hitsugaya scolded him again.

‘I do not need you standing up for me, understand? I can take care of myself and certainly don’t need someone else trying to take care of me.’ The comment was laced with quite the bit of venom and Ichigo wasn’t sure why, there was clearly some kind of deeper meaning here that he wasn’t getting. However Ichigo just nodded and slid into the car after him for a very uncomfortable ride back home.

 

He wondered if their relationship would continue this way; one step forward and two steps back and that’s what he pondered over for the rest of the car journey back home. 


	4. Other Side of the World

The heat was overwhelmingly consuming. It completely engulfed him and all he could do was groan. His hand slipped into locks of white, fingers tangling effortlessly through the strands and his head lolled back around to stare at the work the prodigy was carrying out.

 

Teal eyes were fixed on his, the depths of their expression clearly some kind of twisted dominating euphoria. Even when his mouth was full he looked so damn smug and had it not been for Ichigos throbbing member bobbing in and out the young boys mouth, Ichigo would have pulled him in for a deep kiss. Hitsugaya pulled back so that Ichigos erection was removed from his mouth and returned to the teasing he had been carrying out before, running his tongue playfully up the length of his shaft and licking at the flesh of its head.

 

‘P-Please…’ Ichigo groaned, his head tilting back. It had been like this for ages, the boys skilled tongue dancing and teasing the head of his aching member while he groaned and begged for release. The young prodigy wasn’t having any of it though, just when Ichigo felt like he was getting close the boy pulled away like it was some sick twisted game. He could practically hear the laughing, the low deep throaty chuckle tainted with lust… wait… no… that was his alarm clock.

 

With a groan Ichigo smacked the damn thing off its pedestal and into a heap on the floor. He looked down at his covers which were damp from sweat and reached down through the covers to grasp his own erection. He gasped, this was the third night this week and he just wished he could find release in the actual dream itself. However much like reality it seemed, that the sexy Hitsugaya would get him close, pull away, get him close and pull away again. So his dreams seemed to match the rhythm without giving him any release at all. Ichigo reached over to where his alarm clock stood moments before and picked up a tissue box, it seemed like he’d have to finish himself again.

 

With a grunt he used the precum from the tip of his aching member to get him started as his other hand reached inside the top drawer of his side table and grabbed a lube bottle. Loading his hand he began stroking himself under the covers and kept his eyes closed, trying to remember the feeling of the dream. It wasn’t too difficult to do since he was having them so regularly and he’d only just woken up. He could see the teal eyes gazing at him, half lidded with lust but full of mischief, he could feel the tongue lap up and down his length making him gasp and he could only imaging what it would finally be like to feel inside the young boys tight entrance. It was that idea that pushed Ichigo over the edge and with a grunt he came into his own hand.

He lay back with his eyes closed for a long time before finally getting himself up. He bundled the covers into his arms and went to place them in the washing machine (for the 3rd time that week), then made his way towards the bathroom to shower before changing for work. This was getting ridiculous, he thought to himself as the water lapped across his body and he washed away any signs of his dream. He’d have to get laid soon otherwise these dreams were going to cause him some serious problems.

 

He groaned, but he didn’t want to have sex with just anyone, that was part of the problem. There was only one person he wanted to feel wrapped around him and it was the same damn white haired beauty that appeared in all his sex related dreams. He wasn’t even sure where he stood with the sexy CEO, one moment they would start getting along and the next he’d yank back and put distance between them. Just like yesterdays Vogue shoot, they’d had such a laugh in the car on the way there but by the end of the night it was like the beautiful youngster had completely pulled back and was acting cold and distant. Like Ichigo was nothing more than a thorn in his side.

 

Ichigo decided to not go with anything too drastic to wear that day and settled on a black shirt with a red tie, black twin pleat trousers and black shoes. The red tie and dark clothing made his hair stand out more, he didn’t mind it here as there were several other strawberry blonds around, and one of them was Rangiku.

Rangiku. She was going to have to make things up to him for ditching him to deal with that event alone yesterday. Had she been there maybe the night wouldn’t have ended so poorly. However would Hitsugaya have flirted with him in the car if Rangiku had been there? Wait? _Was_ he flirting? Taking someone elses phone and going through their private pictures to flaunt around a semi naked picture… was that flirting? Now that he thought about it, he could kind of see it being that way. However maybe that was just wishful thinking. He sighed and left his apartment, he’d be late if he didn’t stop these deep pondering thoughts.

 

 

As he walked towards the office he remembered something that happened in the car, Hitsugaya had spoken of a particular KT Tunstall song, curious to remember it Ichigo pulled up Spotify and threw it on as he walked. Paying attention to the lyrics, he wasn’t sure if the lyrics were important or not but he’d take any little thing that may help him unlock the mystery that was Toshiro Hitsugaya.

 

 _Over the sea and far away_  
She's waiting like an iceberg  
Waiting to change  
But she's cold inside  
She wants to be like the water

Ichigo walked down the street listening to the lyrics and trying not to overanalyse their meaning. After all it could just be that his boss liked the song for its tune and not its lyrics. With a frown Ichigo rejected this theory, yes the song was relaxing but it was hardly a song someone fell in love with because of its amazing beat or catchy tune, no this was one of those deep meaningful lyrical songs.

_All the muscles tighten in her face_  
Buries her soul in one embrace  
They're one and the same  
Just like water

Did Hitsugaya see himself as the girl in this song? Did he see himself as cold, like an iceberg wanting someone to change him? It was a difficult song to comprehend, the lyrics made it sound like someone in particular was the only person to melt away the ice.

 

 _The fire fades away_  
Most of everyday  
Is full of tired excuses  
But it's to hard to say  
I wish it were simple  
But we give up easily  
You're close enough to see that  
You're the other side of the world to me

 

Ichigo froze slightly in his steps a frown etching its way onto his face. This song was clearly about someone else, _the fire fading away_? Did that mean that spark that came with the romantic involvement with someone? Fading away… was Hitsugaya ever in love? It was weird to think this but Ichigo couldn’t help but feel like that’s what this song was about.

 

Quickly his fingers found the pause button and he locked his phone. That would be enough of that, even the thought of his sexy boss being in love with another man was difficult for the strawberry haired man to handle. He could actually feel panic in the back of his throat. Was he already taken? What if he had a lover already and no one knew because he kept it secret? Ichigo pushed all this from his thoughts and forced himself to only think about making it into the office.

 

Ten minutes later he walked through the doors to the office and Rangiku was nowhere to be seen. He dumped his stuff on his desk; this wasn’t unusual she was often running late. Ichigo shuffled into the little ‘kitchen’ or wet room just behind Rangikus desk and made the two of them a coffee. He walked back out and placed one of them on her desk as she came flying through the door.

 

‘Sorry I’m late!’ She gasped quickly firing up her computer and taking her coat off. She spotted the cup with a pleased smile and took it into her hands drinking it gleefully.

‘You’re not late.’

Their starting time was meant to be 8:30am however they had an unspoken rule that as long as the gaffa (code word: the boss) hadn’t come in yet then they were both on time. She smiled happily at this and went to sit down on her chair before squealing and leaping back up. Ichigo started and turned to look at her.

‘How did the vogue shoot go? I meant to text you last night.’ She squealed, her baby blue eyes large with anticipation.

‘Oh it went well, you know, we played with each others hair on the way in then we sat and make cute little jokes all the way through it.’ His tone was dripping with sarcasm, she watched him with her brows furrowing together and her smile being replaced by a frown.

At that moment the doors to their office opened and Hitsugaya walked passed them. Wearing a plain navy blue suit and a white tie he didn’t even acknowledge them as he walked straight into his own office and slammed the door. Ichigo winced at the sound and Rangiku rounded on him.

‘What the hell happened?’

 

* * *

 

 

After catching her up on everything that happened Rangiku sighed desperately and then ordered (that’s right, ordered!) him to go out with her and some of her friends that night. Having been in New York for over a month now he agreed, he hadn’t had a chance to go out on the scene and she had offered to buy the first round.

 

The great thing about working for this kind of business is that neither of them would really need to change they’d just simply need to tidy up and Ichigo could leave his suit jacket and tie behind and unbutton his shirt and he was good to go. Rangiku had already mentioned she’d need time to freshen up in the bathroom first before heading out, as she was already in a long slimming and rather tight black body dress that was off at the shoulders, she was ‘good to go.’

 

The day didn’t brighten up and short of Hitsugaya shouting at Ichigo for a particular set of documents the young boy genius had said nothing else to him all day. Ichigo confronted Rangiku about the way he addressed people.

 

‘He only uses my first name when he’s yelling at me and my last name when he’s in a good mood it’s weird.’ Ichigo huffed, getting sick of trying to work out all these crazy riddles in his head.

‘Oh yes he does that, he used to call me Rangiku when we hung out a lot more, but not so much anymore.’ She eyed the door and Ichigo could see her eyes glaze over as if in deep thought. It made him curious as to what had happened between the two of them but decided not to push it. He didn’t want to risk his boss walking out while they were gossiping about him. He figured he’d save all his questions for later on that night.

 

Rangiku had already pre warned Ichigo that she was inviting a handful of other people, still the company shocked him when they were finally out. He figured her vision of a ‘handful’ would be at least ten but he was surprised to see that actually it only consisted of four other people besides themselves.

‘So Rangiku told us that you’re working for Hitsugaya then Ichigo is that right?’ The gentleman called Shuhei asked.

‘Yeah it’s… challenging.’ Ichigo muttered and drank three mouthfuls of his drink in one go. He heard the red haired man laugh at him.

‘Really I feel sorry for you, Hitsugaya is a tough guy.’ Renji said before lifting his glass and giving a little nod to Ichigo as if congratulating him on having made it so far.

‘My brother isn’t that bad.’ A stern voice quivered and Renji swallowed his drink to apologise quickly while Ichigo choked on his own.

‘B-Brother!?!’ Ichigo coughed, staring at the young woman called Momo.

‘Yes see that’s why I brought you out here Ichigo, I figured it was time you learned a little bit about the man you work with, since you’ll never find out from him anyway.’ Rangiku said waving a hand dismissively as if the idea of the prodigy opening up to him was ludicrous. Nanao shuffled in her seat, clearly uncomfortable by the exchange as Momo began speaking again.

‘Yes he’s my brother. He was adopted by my granny when he was just a baby, his parents had died in a car accident not long after he was born, and he was found in the back of the car alive but very alone. It was granny who discovered the wreck and cared for him, in the end they decided to let him live with us since he screamed when anyone else but granny or myself tried to hold him.’ Momo was thoughtful, ‘well he grew up very very close to granny, we both did.’ Momo sighed and traced the edges of her glass with a finger.’

Everyone at the table looked solemn now and Ichigo could feel his heart drop, this story clearly didn’t have a happy ending.

‘He was always really smart, but he never really started to push himself until granny fell ill. Dementia,’ she said in response to Ichigos questioning gaze. ‘She started to forget him, he never gave up, and he was determined to make money to find a cure. He had an aptitude for science and could have gone down the route of trying to find a cure himself, but without the funding he settled on setting up a massive business and pumping money into as many research developments as he could to try and find a cure. Long after she had forgotten him he didn’t give up.’

Ichigo could actually feel his eyes prickle, this story was just horrible to listen too, he didn’t want to hear the ending he just didn’t.

Momo couldn’t hide her tears now as they began at the corner of her eyes. ‘Things got worse for us; me and Shiro grew apart when I met Aizen my ex boyfriend. I just wanted a distraction, where he was throwing himself into his work I was determined to avoid the problems my own way. Aizen was actually really aggressive and he used to beat me regularly. Things didn’t go down well when Shiro confronted him, he ended up in hospital because of Aizen, who fled the country because the police finally became aware of his violent nature.’ Momo brought a hand up to wipe the tears before they ran down her face. Nanao reached out a comforting arm and wrapped it around the girls shoulders.

‘Granny passed away in hospital when Shiro was still recovering himself that was about a year ago now.’

 

Ichigo had to dig his nails into his leg to stop tears from forming in his own eyes. Suddenly the young prodigy’s demeanour made a lot more sense to him and his cold and distant nature.

‘That was about the time he stopped hanging out with me, before granny passed away he was so close to me. He’d tell me everything. I’ve been waiting for him to come and talk to me again and I’ve tried to reach out to him a few times. Each time I’ve tried though it’s made him very angry. I was scared that he’d fire me then I wouldn’t ever be able to be there to make sure he was okay so I decided to back off and give him space.’ Rangiku drank from her glass gloomily as she explained and everyone around the table was quiet as they digested the information.

‘Momo, have you tried… speaking to him?’ Ichigo piped up looking at her and she nodded, still fighting back the tears.

‘Yes but, I think part of him blames me, if Aizen hadn’t put him in hospital… then he’d have been there to say goodbye to granny.’ She hiccupped at the end and Nanao hugged her tighter, Shuhei reached over and grasped her hand firmly and Renji tried to give her a kind smile.

‘It’s not your fault at all Momo, he knows that, he’s just trying to shut everyone out.’ Renji said and everyone around the table agreed with him.

‘He needs to realise you were suffering too and dealing with things in a different way. Not a way I agree with because it ended up hurting you, but your own way nonetheless.’ Shuhei said and Momo thanked him while dabbing her eyes.

‘We’ve not really gotten together to talk about this properly since it happened, we’ve mostly avoided the topic but since you’re working with him Ichigo I think you should know.’ Rangiku watched him thoughtfully and Ichigo stared at his glass.

‘After what you told me today about how he was in the car with you, that was what he was like before granny passed away, it was lovely to hear of him being like that again, that playful and flirtatious way. I personally believe if anyone can get through to him, it’s you.’

There were a lot of eyes on Ichigo now and he brought his hand up to rub the back of his neck. This beautiful young man had been through so much heartache and it hurt him to even think about it. He needed something stable in his life besides his job to help ground him. Was Ichigo up to the task? He hesitated then remembered those beautiful teal eyes, that stunning white hair. The man was so beautifully unique, so strong and yet breaking apart. Finally Ichigo nodded.

‘I think you’re right.’ He mumbled and finished his drink. ‘Lets get drunk.’

 

XxXxX  
  
Very tipsy and very much aware it was his weekend to be on call, Ichigo was walking home. Something about the fresh night air helped to clear his mind and make him feel a little less drunk. His mind was reeling from all the information he’d heard that night, it had taken the group a while to get out of their gloomy moods but once Rangiku and Renji started having a drinking contest the mood picked up and got better from there. He’d actually found himself with an extra number in his phone now, since he’d gotten on quite well with Renji. The drunk red head had slung an arm around his shoulder, openly told him he wasn’t gay so not to get the wrong idea and proceeded to punch his own number into Ichigos phone while Ichigo fought back a laugh.

Overall the night had been quite good and very educational.

 

While he walked, Ichigo had a thought, remembering from this morning, he pulled out his phone and jammed his earphones into his ears. He opened back up spotify and spotted the song he’d been listening too earlier that day was still paused exactly where he’d left it. Rather hesitantly, he glanced around and hit the play button.

 

 _On comes the panic light_  
Holding on with fingers and feelings alike  
But the time has come  
To move along

_The fire fades away_

_Can you help me?_  
Can you let me go?  
And can you still love me  
When you can't see me anymore?

_The fire fades away_

 

Ichigo understood the song now, it was about granny. As he listened to each line of lyrics Ichigo fought back the cold hard emotion that threatened to overcome him. He’d only every thought about fucking the young prodigy but now he felt something else, something more. He felt protective, just like he had done that night of the vogue shoot. He felt like he wanted to be a source of happiness and comfort to the young prodigy. To hold him in his arms and bundle him up and never let him go, to make him feel _loved._ With a start that’s when he realised, that’s exactly what the boy needed. He needed to be loved again, to have someone else to love and Ichigo was going to do his best to make sure it was him. He mentally made a note to not screw this up.

 

As he walked home, he flipped his spotify onto some happier songs trying to think about the best way to win the young mans affection and have him open up. To think about Ichigo as someone he could count on and not just someone to fuck across the desk. His mind was going over and over all the details and possible events, he’d need Rangikus help that’s for sure. He’d make sure to employ her in the morning by calling her or texting her his plan.

 

This was what was going through Ichigos mind, the idea of having the young man bundled in his arms as he slept, stroking his hair from his beautiful eyes. Ichigo crossed the road to a rather dodgy looking district, passing by a club to his right with low lighting; it was very difficult to see. However white hair caught his attention and he turned to stare, Hitsugaya had just walked into the club. Confused Ichigo looked up at it, there was no way of being able to tell from the outside what kind of club it was, so how the young boy got in was beyond him. Curious Ichigo walked over to the security officer and flashed his ID. The door was opened and he walked in, he was very careful as he looked around, peaking around the corners trying to find out where the younger man had gone. The club was not what he had been expecting and it had taken him a few minutes before he spotted the young man, his white hair flashing different colours with the changing lights. Ichigo watched in horror as one of the male strippers grabbed the young prodigy’s hand and lead him into a back room.

Standing there numb for quite some time staring at the door, Ichigo felt like his entire heart was about to break. Once again just when he felt like he was getting close, Hitsugaya would pull away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd appreciate a kudos if you don't wanna leave me a comment...


	5. Iced Watermelon & Mango

‘Ichigo you’re reading more into this than you should.’ Came a rather exasperated female voice from the other end of the line. Ichigo had called the other strawberry blond the moment he’d woken up… well not really the moment he’d woken up because he had been tossing and turning all night, but as soon as he deemed it a reasonable enough time to call, he did.

‘He left with a stripper Ran, how can I read into this any less? It was pretty obvious what happened.’ Ichigo couldn’t help the sadness from coming into his voice as he remembered the scene that had been playing over and over again in his mind. The tall long haired man pulling Toshiro to his feet and off towards one of the back doors. It had haunted him all night and he’d seen the scene from a million different angles. ‘How did he even get into that club anyway.’ Ichigo grumbled downing the tablets that had dissolved in water in an attempt to get rid of his pounding headache.

‘Ahhh…’ Came a reply and Ichigo froze.

‘Ran?’ Ichigos eyes narrowed, ‘do you know something about that?’

‘Yes, sorry Ichigo we have a couple of clubs and bars where we’ve paid off a couple of people… so he could come out with me.’

‘Rannnnnn…’ Ichigo groaned, ‘he’s underage to drink, why would you even do that?’

‘C’mon Ichigo don’t you think the man has been through enough? He matured faster than anyone else probably has in order to try and take care of everyone else around him; he’s never really had a childhood, not really. Not really had any friends because of how quickly he went through school. I wasn’t going to let his age stand in the way of us having a good night out.’

Ichigo was thoughtful for a while as she spoke and he could understand, regardless of the prodigy being the age he was, he didn’t act it. If anything, mentality alone, Ichigo would probably have said he was in his early thirties. After a bit of a silence Ichigo sighed and agreed that this was probably something he’d have done too.

‘When we started going out he met a guy called Kusaka, he was a stripper that worked at that strip joint you saw him in yesterday. I’m almost certain it was him from your description.’

‘Was he an ex of his or something?’ Ichigo asked, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer or not.

‘Not really, Toshiro had the hots for him, this was back before Granny passed away, he was so different back then…’ Ichigo could almost hear her voice focus in and out as if she were recalling happy memories of a time much longer ago than it actually was. ‘He used to blush and hide behind me every time we went there. Kusaka was really fit at the time, he’s let himself go since then.’ Ran said with a scoff, ‘really he’s got nothing on you Ichigo you’re much cuter.’ Ichigo scoffed but couldn’t help grin a little, Ran was trying to make him feel better. ‘Toshiro was really taken with him, but Kusaka was a dick to him, used him for his money really, Toshiro just let him. He’d buy him everything he wanted and in return Kusaka would go behind his back and fuck other guys. I know because I spotted him in the ally behind the strip club one night, it broke Toshiros heart.’

Ichigo ran a hand through his own hair, he couldn’t help it when a snarl wretched itself from the back of his throat.

‘Ichigo?’ Ran asked, surprise and concern lacing her tone.

‘How dare he do that to him, take his heart and fuck him over as if he didn’t have enough shit going on in his life without that scum bag… I mean what the fuck was Toshiro doing with him if that’s how he’d been treated by him in the past?’ Ichigos voice was distorted with disgust and he felt sick.

‘Oh Ichigo… I know, I’m one of few people whos really cared about Toshiro as more than just an employee. It took me years to build a relationship with him and a few assholes to break it down again.’

 

There was a comfortable silence down the phone as the two of them contemplated silently. Ichigo was sitting on his couch of his small apartment and staring at the TV that was mounted on the wall. The screen was black and reflected the light of the fire alarm as it blinked. ‘But Ichigo,’ Rans voice drew his focus back and he listened closely to her. ‘I’m glad you came here, seriously, you’re one of few other people to actually care this much about him. I can tell from the way you’ve been speaking and from what I’ve seen. He’s never really been loved by anyone that wasn’t myself, Momo or his gran and what he thought was love turned out to be a waste of space. I don’t believe that he would have been stupid enough to do anything with Kusaka last night, I think he just likes the company even if he has to pay for it. I know you’d never use him like that, so I’m going to do everything I can to help you.’ He could hear her smile down the phone and grinned a little. The tension in his stomach had lessened since speaking to her and the drugs were beginning to kick in for his sore head.

‘I think he needs you too Ran, you should call him, demand to see him outside of work and try and get that friendship back that the two of you have had. If it’s love he needs then that also means friendship and he would benefit a lot from having you back in his life too.’

He heard her chuckle down the phone and she agreed. The rest of the call was spent talking about the gossip of the office, who was dating who and who was wearing what. Ichigo found the conversation rather amusing regardless of hating gossip. Ran only ever had nice things to say about people and even when she was saying something negative about someone she’d quickly comment on something good about them too, it was an interesting quirk of her character, she just didn’t have a bad bone in her body.

 

* * *

 

 

After an intense workout at his local gym, Ichigo was on his way home when Ran had text him. He brought his phone out and let his pale brown eyes glide across the screen, a smile forming on his lips as he read her text message.

‘ _Me and Toshiro are going out for Lunch later today, can’t believe he agreed, not that I really gave him a choice. I told him it was that or I quit and take you with me. I think he likes you because he didn’t seem bothered about losing me xx’_

He had to laugh at that text, he knew it probably wasn’t true and she was just saying it was because of him to make him feel better. Still he stopped in the street, a stupid grin plastered on his face as he quickly text her back.

_‘Let me know how it goes, good for you for putting your foot down and being firm with him. I’m sure he’d hate to lose you x’_

With a slight spring in his step Ichigo made his way home. He’d made his mind up, he was going to win this amazing mans affection by showing him what real romance was. The L word might have been a bit strong right now but that didn’t mean he couldn’t see himself falling in love with the white haired beauty. He already got butterflies every single time he thought of him and he was sure that was a good part of the reason he knew that love would one day be possible. How to win over the younger male though? This was exactly what Ichigo was contemplating as he finally made it home. Ditching his sweat soaked clothes he bundled them into his tiny washing machine and stepped into the shower.

He’d been paid yesterday and it was more money than he’d been expecting. Yes he’d come here to save but there wasn’t anything wrong with splashing a little towards his project surely?

Deciding not to wait in for Ran to text or call him and let him know how her lunch went, Ichigo got himself dressed and went out shopping.

 

There were a couple of expensive suit shops around the area that he decided to check out. Not knowing a lot about what kind of suits were best and a vague idea of his own measurements he decided it was time to throw some money towards dressing right. He sought out a personal shopper and found the perfect candidate in a young and respectable man called Yamada. The personal shopper took good care of him, telling him that actually the full suit look did not suit him that well.

Apparently Ichigos physic screamed easy to remove shirts. Tight woven twill that felt as smooth on his skin as silk was the main kind they went for. Taking detailed measurements and ensuring the shirts fit perfectly, Yamada even altered them himself in the shop to ensure they were completely tailored. A selection of white herringbone shirts coupled with a few black tight woven twill shirts were sitting at the end of the checkout for him to take home. He forked over extra cash for some platinum cufflinks and a few assortments of ties. The idea of purchasing a bowtie just for the chuckles was quickly dismissed and instead he invaded the aftershave section of the store. Yamada choose a few personal scents that Ichigo had to agree smelt quite nice and manly. Making him smell a lot more his age and a little less like a kid straight out of college, thanking Yamada Ichigo paid for the goods and left the store with a couple of extra bags.

 

He checked his phone and saw a missed call from Ran, he checked the time and saw that it was well after 4pm. He’d not even eaten himself, being too wrapped up in trying on shirts. He made a mental note to get food first then once he was finished he’d call Ran back. Walking through the streets heading towards the main street where he knew there’d be a lot more favourable food stores, he passed by a window and doubled back. Ichigo stared at the manikin in the window and felt a grin slip on his face. If he was ditching the smart blazer look he’d need a new jacket and if he was being honest with himself he never fully felt comfortable in the blazer jacket. It wasn’t his style, Yamada had been right about that from the moment he asked the man to help him.

Ichigo entered the shop and picked up the jacket that had caught his eyes. He knew it was a little controversial and very expensive but he wanted it anyway. Trying on a few sizes until he found the one that fit perfectly he paid for it and left the store, the tight black leather jacket hugging his arms and torso. It had a folded down collar and smart silver studs and zipper. He walked into subway and grabbed two foot longs with a drink, deciding to take it home before eating it. It wasn’t much of a dinner but in all honesty he couldn’t resist the smell of the toasted cheese as he walked by the store, his stomach totally decided for him. He figured he could keep the other one in the fridge to munch on later if he didn’t manage to finish the two of them.

 

Part of him was very eager now to hear all about Rans time with the white haired prodigy. So once he was home, he gently put away all his shirts and ties away and wolfed down the first of the two sandwiches. Then he grabbed his phone and dialled her number.

Turns out dinner had been on her mind too as when she answered she was finishing something already in her mouth.

‘Ichigo!’ She squealed and quickly swallowed, ‘where have you been? I’ve been dying to talk to someone other than Gin about what happened.’ She sounded so excited and he laughed.

‘Sorry to keep you waiting, I decided to go and do a bit of shopping.’ He said back as he pulled a beer from his tiny fridge, he held his phone to his ear with his shoulder as he pulled the cap off the bottle. ‘I’m not interrupting your dinner with Gin am I?’

‘Oh no don’t worry he’s fine with it, we just ordered in anyway.’

‘Hello Ichigo.’ Called a voice in the background and Ichigo grinned.

‘Is that Gin?’

‘Yeah,’ Ran laughed as Gin shouted back out to him.

‘I’ve heard so much about you Ichigo. Right babe I’ll leave you two to talk I’ve got work to do anyway.’ Ichigo heard him kiss Ran down the line and take his leave.

‘Bye Gin,’ Ran chuckled, ‘okay first what did you buy? You know I’m a sucker for shopping.’

‘A few new shirts and a new jacket,’ Ichigo chuckled.

‘Good, you look good in shirts alone you always seem so stiff in the blazer it comes across in your demeanour.’ She teased down the line at him and he frowned at her.

‘Hey now, you could have told me that sooner, anyway that won’t be an issue anymore I really love my new leather jacket.’

‘Ohh leather is sexy, it’s in just now, very smart. I’ll see it at work tomorrow anyway.’

‘You will, now tell me what happened with Lunch?’

‘I’m honestly just shocked he actually showed up.’ She laughed down the phone, Ichigo didn’t feel bad about drinking his beer as she finished eating her Chinese and spoke with him for the next hour.

‘He apologised for not being in touch more, we mostly spoke about work to be honest and then I brought you into the conversation.’

Ichigo felt like a teenager again, trying to figure out if his crush had a crush on him too and was too shy to do it so was finding out through a mutual friend.

‘What did you two say about me?’ He asked, trying to keep the obvious interest from his voice as she laughed at him.

‘Well I asked what he thought about you and he said that you were a very good worker, he actually teased me that he wouldn’t need me soon at the rate you do paperwork. Seriously Ichigo try and stop making me look so bad.’ He could almost hear her pouting down the phone at him and had to stop himself laughing at her.

‘I asked him if that’s all he liked about you, he asked me what I meant and I just shrugged at him. I told him that you’d told me about the Vogue shoot and that – while you might be obvious to it- what happened in the car with typical Toshiro flirting.

‘Naturally he denied this but I saw the colour in his cheeks Ichigo he was totally flirting with you and he knew it. He was getting so defensive it was so cute. I think, beyond the narcissistic demeanour he puts on he’s actually a little shy around you and I found out that he agrees you’re rather good looking. I told him I thought you were and he grunted which is basically a yes from him and his cheeks had gone a little pink.’

Ichigo was grinning like a stupid idiot listening to Ran talk, he wished he had a way to record this entire conversation so he could listen to all back later on when he started to believe he’d just dreamed it.

‘I think it’s something to do with the sexy older man thing, it makes him shy even though he doesn’t show it, he comes across as the big CEO guy but deep down he’s still only 18 years old and figuring out his hormones.’

‘So what about Kusaka?’ Ichigo boldly offered, wondering if this was a topic she’d brought up with him.

‘Well I didn’t want to throw that at him in case he knew that he’d been stalked into the club. So I let him come forward with it when I asked what he’d been doing recently. He openly told me he’d been to see him in the club and that he kissed him out in the alleyway. They never went any further than that though.’ She quickly added as she heard Ichigo inhale deeply on the other end of the phone. ‘He doesn’t want that kind of relationship with him anymore but I think he just likes the attention to be honest. He gets a lot of scared looks being a young boy genius and that frightens a lot of people off, he doesn’t often get the chance of having someone make sexual advancements on him, Kusaka wouldn’t do that without him paying for it but I think Toshiro just does it out of habit since Kusaka is the one man he’s ever opened up too. At least that’s what I think.’

 

Ichigo digested this information and finally nodded to himself. He told Ran all about his plans to try and win the boys affection and trust and give him someone to love and to just be there for him and Ran squealed with delight.

‘This is going to be so amazing, well how are you going to start?’

‘I was thinking gifts on his desk, not something generic like chocolates or anything puerile like that but rather something that showed I know him a little better. Any idea of things he loves?’

‘He loves watermelon, specifically frozen watermelon and mango smoothies. There’s a stall about a block away from our office that does them. He doesn’t go often because people give him funny looks for it, a young boy dressed like a man buying a frozen smoothie meant for kids, sometimes he’ll get me to go get him one but I’m usually too lazy to walk in my high heels.’

Ichigo grinned down the phone at this vital piece of information. ‘Then I know exactly how to start this.’

 

* * *

 

 

They knew not to expect him until after 12pm due to a meeting on the other side of town that Ran had arranged a driver for. The windows in his office had been thrown open by Ran as she made her way in. Ichigo shuffled in after her, they’d both just been out for lunch and made a few stops on the way back to the office.

 

Ichigo placed the gifts down on the desk, one which consisted of KT Tunstalls CD; Eye to the Telescope and one of those infamous iced watermelon and mango smoothies from that stall he loved so much. After opening the windows of his office and placing the gifts they went back to their desks to work. Ran was just in the middle of answering a call and Ichigo was standing up getting ready to take a stack of papers down to the mail room on the ground floor when Toshiro walked in.

 

Today seemed to be an off day for the boy genius, he looked rushed and a bit frantic when he entered the office, glancing at his gleaming silver watch. He wore a plain dark grey suit today and the colour did not strike Ichigo as attractive as the black suits he normally wore or the white suit he’d wore for the Vogue shoot. He didn’t even look up at Ichigo or Ran as he quickly dashed into his office, leaving the door wide open.

 

Ichigo glanced at Ran who shrugged, the phone pressed between her shoulder and her ear as she filed a nail.

There was a few moments silence then the young prodigy walked back out his office his face looking rather confused. He stared ahead for a few moments and blinked turning to Ran first.

‘Did you buy me a smoothie?’ He asked, his voice sounded sincere and unsure. Ichigo just wanted to go and hug him. She smiled and shook her head, raising an eyebrow.   
There was a moments hesitation then Toshiro turned to look at Ichigo. Ichigo had just pulled his leather jacket on top of his black shirt. He hadn’t bothered to wear a tie today but rather wore a thin silver chain around his heck. Toshiro froze and his eyes darted across what Ichigo was wearing. His reaction was perfect and exactly what Ichigo had been waiting for him to notice. Still Ichigo played along, looking down at himself and back at his boss with mock confusion on his face.

‘Kurosaki did you…?’ He asked, his voice even more unsure and a little softer than when he asked Ran.

Ichigo smiled at him and shrugged his shoulders playfully. ‘A little bird told me they were your favourite smoothies.’ He lifted a small stack of confirmation papers up onto the top part of his desk for the white haired beauty to take. ‘These are the confirmation papers and receipts, I know that you have that meeting with Mr Hasumoto next week and needed these done asap so I came in early to send them off.

Toshiros beautiful teal eyes went wide. ‘That’s what… I was rushing back for.’ He took a step forward and lifted the papers off the desk glancing at them then back to Ichigo, a confused look crossing his usually stern gaze as he tucked the papers under his arm. ‘Thank you.’

‘You’re welcome.’ Ichigo grinned at him and he wasn’t sure but he could have sworn he saw a little bit of that pink creep into the pale skin of his cheeks.

‘You suit that jacket Kurosaki.’ He mumbled as he straightened back up and squared his shoulders, clearly trying to regain control of his composure.

As he said it Ichigo ran his thumbs under the collar to lift it up absentmindedly. Toshiros eyes watching carefully as he did it. The young boy would never give more compliments than needed, but the collar being pulled up as if to protect his exposed neck was actually a very sexy look on the older male.

‘Thank you sir.’

 

There was a moments pause when Toshiro suddenly realised he was staring and quickly turned around and walked back into his office. Ran gave Ichigo the thumbs up and he grinned at her.

‘Go,’ she mouthed at him and he hesitated, then took a deep breath and walked around his desk knocking gently on the CEOs door.

‘Come in,’

Ichigo walked in and saw that the grey jacket had been ripped off and that his sexy little boss was in a plain white shirt which was rather see through, Ichigo had to stop himself from staring at the dark shadow of his abs that could now be clearly seen through the thin white material. Toshiro glanced up at him with a straw in his mouth as he devoured the smoothie with a look of pure pleasure on his face.

‘I wanted to ask you something sir.’ Ichigo smiled as he stepped into the office. Toshiro eyed him for a moment, still drinking his smoothie that he didn’t want to put down and nodded for him to continue. At least Ichigo had not asked to ask him a question, he’d learned that lesson.

‘Would you like to go out with me sometime?’


	6. Melting Down Snowflakes

‘No.’ Came the blunt response of the cold crisp voice as Toshiro outright denied his request for a date. Ichigo was feeling mortified and couldn’t stop the colour from flourishing in his cheeks. He’d been stupid to ask so soon and careless in his approach and it was probably going to set him back quite a bit. He thought about how best to play it off, how to try walking out of here with his head held high.

 

At least that’s what Ichigo had expected to happen, so you could imagine his surprise when it didn’t. Instead the white haired prodigy regarded him for quite some time, surveying him with that intense teal gaze of his as Ichigo remained calm, trying to install an air of quiet confidence.

‘Are you sure you wouldn’t rather just fuck me on the desk and get it over with?’ The younger man replied, removing the straw from his mouth and setting the smoothie down on said desk.

‘Ah, as tempting as that offer is sir, I think it more a 3rd date kind of thing at least, wouldn’t you agree?’ Ichigo tried to keep his voice light and playful to hide the panic and fear of rejection that was washing over him just now.

They stood silently staring at each other for quite some time, if Ichigo could have ever wished for mind reading powers it would have been in that moment. There were a number of emotions going through that intense teal gaze as he considered the older male and it seemed an internal battle was raging on under all that white fluffy hair. After a bit of time, one side seemed to give out and Ichigo could have sworn he saw a little bit of pink creep into the younger boys cheeks as he finally answered him.

‘Alright then,’ his voice was so quiet Ichigo almost missed it; he blinked stupidly for a moment before a massive grin spread across his face, causing the boy to flush more.

‘When are you free?’

‘This Sunday?’

‘Sunday is good for me too,’ Ichigo pulled out his phone and was about to ask Toshiro for his number when the man himself spoke.

‘That won’t be necessary…’ Ichigo looked up at him, the colour that had flourished in his cheeks was still there but the younger boy was looking to the side away from Ichigo. ‘I errr… put my number in your phone already when I had it in the car.’

Ichigo blinked at him and looked down at the device; he couldn’t find the number under ‘Toshiro’ before laughing when he spotted it listed as ‘Hitsugaya’ instead.

‘I’m impressed I never noticed that until now.’ He chuckled as he looked back up at the sexy CEO.

‘You’re not very astute, perhaps that’s a good thing.’ Toshiro said as he shuffled a little still a bit uncomfortable by what was happening between them. Ichigo wasn’t uncomfortable in the slightest, he was elated.

‘I’ll pick you up on Sunday then sir.’ With that Ichigo turned and left the younger man, he didn’t want to overstay his welcome in the office and risk having the boy change his mind, plus he had something very important to take care of. He had a date to plan.

 

* * *

 

Thank goodness Renji had drunkenly put his number in Ichigos phone as well, next to him and Rangiku he needed all the help he could get. Renji had recommended a place that was exactly what Ichigo was looking for. It was outside of New York City, in New Jersey actually, so Ichigo had gone to rent a car with the help of Rankigu.

 

In anticipation for his date, Ichigo even drove all the way down to the location he had in mind, scouted it out and drove all the way back. With a little bit of traffic it took around an hour and a half to get there and about the same amount of time coming back home. Though Toshiro wouldn’t have classed himself a celebrity, Ichigo was determined to make sure that he wouldn’t be spotted getting into a car with him if he didn’t want to be seen, people around New York knew of him, so Ichigo and Rangiku had picked a common car that wouldn’t draw attention to them and with windows so darkly tinted you could barely see anymore than shapes inside the car from the outside. The white Toyota Corolla was quite easy to drive and had the necessary air con and comfortable seats that would do them for the hour drive. Ichigo just hoped that Toshiro had put enough time by for their date as he needed.

 

‘You should text him and make sure, you don’t wanna take him all the way out there only to hear he has other plans and needs to be back early or something.’ Renji said as he killed Ichigo with one click of a button.

‘Damnit Renji, we’re on the same team!’ Ichigo barked as he waited for the countdown to finish so he could re-spawn.

‘Yes but you have a text to send.’ Renji chuckled as Ichigo pulled out his phone with a grumble.

‘You two are so pathetic.’ Rangiku sang in her high voice as she took out Renji to avenge Ichigo.

Ichigo had learned that this was how they often spent their Saturday mornings, playing video games. On some rare days they were joined by other friends but it was always early (usually around 9am ish) and they always came over practically wearing pajamas. Apparently there was once a time that Toshiro even came over to Rangikus house to play with them but that had been over a year ago now. The idea that a sleepy Toshiro had once sat on this very spot on Ran’s couch, playing with the same controller, wearing his pajamas and laughing with them all was enough to give Ichigo the strength to try and be as romantic as possible. There was once a light hearted side to Toshiro that he never knew existed and he was determined to bring it out, to see it for himself. He was almost a little jealous that Ran, Ranji and others had seen it and he hadn’t.

Ichigo was punching the text rapidly into his phone as part of his eyes watched Rans screen. There were zombies baring down on her and without he and Renjis help she was doomed.

 _‘Hey, how much time can I steal you for tomorrow? I have a couple of ideas and need to know how much time I have.’_ He faltered at the end and stared down at his phone as if unsure of something.

‘What’s wrong?’ Renji asked leaning over to see the text.

‘Should I… put a kiss?’

‘No.’ Renjis voice was firm, ‘if you’ve not kissed him in real life yet and you’ve got a date set up sending kisses over text it a bit premature. Send him a smiley face instead though, shows you’re not just talking about this as if it were some kind of business deal.’

Ichigo thanked Renji and took his advice, finishing the text and sending it off as he grabbed his controller ready to join the game.

They were just taking down a boss monster when he heard his phone go, his eyes tore away from the screen for a second and his characters head had been ripped off.

‘Damn, oh well.’ He put the controller down to a string of abuse from his comrades about being so careless as his eyes focused only on his phone.

_‘Have nothing else planned tomorrow. You’ve spiked my curiosity, what time and where are we meeting?’_

Ichigo couldn’t help but grin, he had all day, perfect. He could carry out his entire plan that he’d spoken to Renji and Ran about. They seemed almost as excited as he was at the thought of getting their friend back again and made Ichigo promise not to fuck it up. It was a lot of pressure really.

_‘I’m picking you up at 11am, we are heading out of the city.’_

Ichigo was still grinning stupidly at his phone when he heard the cheering of his two comrades who had beaten the boss without his help.

‘See Ichigo you don’t even get any of this amazing armour that he dropped. Tough luck,’ Renji drawled.

Ichigos phone rang one more time and he looked down to see a text that consisted of a shocked face emoji followed by the word ‘ _okay!’_

Ichigo placed the phone into Rans outstretched hand and she read through the current exchange and smiled warmly at him.

‘He’s excited,’ she chuckled and Renji read the texts as she passed the phone to him.

‘Go strawberry, you bring our boy back to us, we miss him. He was much better at this game than you, damn prodigy he’d beat absolutely everything we came up against.’

Ichigo rolled his eyes at them. ‘Hey now I’ve not been that bad considering this is my first damn time playing the game.’ He tried to make his voice sound playful but he was a little annoyed. He considered himself to be good at computer games but he owned a Playstation not an Xbox.

‘Yeah you’re right,’ came Renjis sarcastic snort, ‘you’ve been terrible.’

 

* * *

 

 

Perhaps nervous was an understatement, the thought crossed his mind as the sun creped across his carpet towards his bed. He couldn’t believe he’d even managed to sleep at all, but he was happy he had and thankful that actually he’d managed to do so with a smile on his face. It had also been quite a long time since he’d had his last lustful dream. Perhaps his mind had decided to reward his current boldness and good efforts by letting him get full nights of rest. It was around 9am and he sat up, stretching out. This was a good time to get up, by the time he got out of bed and went for his daily shower and got dressed it would be time to head and pick up the boy genius.

 

Throwing on his rock playlist on his phone he leapt about his studio apartment getting ready. When he came out the shower he had a rule, never to dry his hair with a towel when he wanted it to look extra spiky. Instead he let it dry naturally as he got ready, the hair setting into beautiful spikes on its own. If he ran a towel through it, it would often curl the spikes and they didn’t look nearly as cool. He’d pause every now and then to run a comb through his bright orange hair, encouraging its development as it dried.

 

Ran had already helped him pick out his outfit. Correction; Ran had raided his entire closet until there was nothing left and forced him to play dress up for the better part of 2 hours before _telling_ him what to wear. She was adamant that he looked best in black because it brought out his hair more and made his eyes appear brighter. So they… _she_ settled on a tight plain black t shirt with his silver chain around his neck, topped with his leather jacket, a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and black dc trainers. This was exactly what he was putting on just now when he glanced at the clock. It was 10:40am and he was sure if he left just now he’d be just outside Toshiros apartment block bang on time. Swallowing his nerves he threw a piece of spearmint chewing gum into his mouth, picked up his black cross body bag and walk from the apartment.

 

He had already made sure the fuel tank was full and listened to the car purr to life as he left the underground parking of his complex. He used the aux adapter to plug his phone in and tried to think of cool calm thoughts to stop himself freaking out as he drove to where Toshiro lived. Ran had obviously given him the address and he stopped just outside, offering a low whistle as he stared up at the rather expensive looking complex. There was an older gentleman in an emerald green tux opening and closing the door for everyone as they came and left, he had quite a happy face about him and seemed to offer kind greetings to the residents and their guests.

Ichigo had already text Toshiro the moment he pulled up, not wanting to stay parked out the front too long in case any of the taxi’s decided to shout abuse at him for taking their place. He hadn’t replied but Ichigo could clearly see his message had been marked as ‘read.’

His eyes watched every single body as they came and went and finally he felt his heart beat twice as fast as the golden rimmed doors were opened and the older gentleman greeted ‘Mr Hitsugaya’ as he left the complex. Toshiro walked down towards the cars and Ichigo flashed the car lights at him, letting him know it was his car. He knew Toshiro wouldn’t be able to see into the vehicle, given the fact that the windows were so tainted. As he walked over, Ichigo took this moment to marvel at what he was wearing. He had never seen him in any kind of casual dress before, only in suits and as he walked he wore a rather tight long sleeved but thin looking woollen grey jumper, a tight pair of black skinny jeans with plain black shoes much like his own and his silver watch. As he walked towards the car through the sunlight Ichigo spotted something glinting around his neck but couldn’t see it from this distance.   
The car door opened and he slid gracefully into the passenger seat.

‘Good morning,’ Ichigo greeted cheerfully as he turned to look at the white haired beauty. Toshiro turned those amazing teal eyes on him; they seemed to have a look of excitement behind them though he was clearly doing his best to mask it in the rest of his facial features.

‘You’re in a very good mood,’ he noted a small smile threatening the edges of his own lips.

‘Yes I am, I think you’re going to enjoy yourself today.’ Ichigo grinned, spotting the necklace that Toshiro wore. It was a thin delicate silver necklace with a snowflake on the end. He noticed it and nearly chuckled to himself, the prince of ice was probably a good title for this young prodigy but Ichigo was determined to melt him down today.

‘So where are you taking me Kurosaki?’ Toshiro hummed as he folded his arms across his chest. Ichigo let off the hand break and pulled out of the complex.

‘Not today.’

‘What?’ Toshiro looked at him confused.

‘Today I am Ichigo your date, not Kurosaki your employee.’ He grinned at the younger man who scowled at the thought of having to call someone by their first name.

‘I always call people by their last names.’

‘No you don’t I’ve heard you call me by my first twice before.’

‘When?’

‘The first time we met-‘

‘That’s hardly fair I didn’t know your last name the first time we met-‘

‘And when you shouted at me for standing up for you at the Vogue shoot.’ Ichigo finished and Toshiro blinked stupidly.

‘I did?’ He asked, mostly to himself than to Ichigo but Ichigo thought he’d answer anyway.

‘Yup, so I figured today you could call me it without shouting it at me.’ He chuckled to break the tension and Toshiro sighed.

‘We’ll see,’ he sounded so serious that Ichigo couldn’t help but laugh at him.

‘You didn’t answer my question, where are we going?’ He tried again, this time softer and less demanding and Ichigo smiled.

‘We’re heading to New Jersey because I found a great little place to take you.’ He couldn’t hide the smile that threatened his face as he thought about the day ahead.

‘Well I’ve got my card with me so-‘

‘Nope, today is my treat.’

There was a silence that followed these words, one where Toshiro seemed to be frozen, unable to comprehend.

‘I am perfectly capabl-‘

‘I know you are.’ Ichigo interjected, ‘I know you’ve probably got billions in a bank somewhere and that it would make sense for you to pay for everything because of that but here’s the thing Toshiro.’ Ichigo felt a thrill at actually calling him his name to his face. ‘I invited you out on this date and so I will pay. Where I come from it is common courtesy and a tradition, so I’ll ask you nicely not to let me break that tradition.’ He spoke calmly wanting the younger boy to understand as he waited patiently for his answer.   
After a few moments, Toshiro seemed to sigh in defeat. ‘Alright, but its Hitsugaya not Toshiro,’ he spoke with that sexy demanding CEO voice that made Ichigo want to jump him.

‘Not today you’re not, today you’re Toshiro.’

He could feel the boys glare and he met it with his own wide grin. ‘Some music?’ He held up his phone for Toshiro to go through his music again. ‘Or do you want to stalk images again? I’ve already gone through them all and removed all the embarrassing ones so that history doesn’t repeat itself.’

He heard a small chuckle from the younger male as he took the phone from Ichigos grasp, their fingers brushing for just an instant that sent a shiver down Ichigos spine.

‘Alright then Kurosaki, lets see what you’ve got today.’

He’d really have to work on this whole name thing.

 

* * *

 

After playing through quite the extensive list of Linkin Park, Breaking Benjamin, Evanescence and a couple of 90’s cheesy tunes, Ichigo pulled his car up off the side of the road. There was a gravel based car park that was halfway down Port Monmouth Road. They parked up and got out of the car, instantly being hit with the smell of sea water and the North Atlantic Ocean breeze sweeping across their faces. The day wasn’t exactly sunny but neither was it too cold. It was a little overcast and grey but otherwise perfect considering the boys’ attire.

‘The beach?’ Toshiro chuckled as he looked out onto Sandy Hook Bay. Ichigo came around the other side of the car, locking it over his shoulder and smiling at the younger boy.

‘Yup!’ He walked to the side of the sexy male and watched his face curiously. ‘When was the last time you were at the beach?’

‘A long time ago.’ Toshiro sighed as he tried to remember, running a hand through his gorgeous white hair as he contemplated. Ichigo chuckled and started walking towards the beach with Toshiro following him. They walked to the West along the sand; the water had recently lapped at its surface before pulling back out to sea so the sand was compacted and damp making it easier for the two boys to walk on without needing to remove their shoes. As they walked they spoke, about different things. Friends, favourite bands, favourite movies and TV shows, they argued for almost thirty minutes over who was going to rule the iron throne in Game of Thrones before making a bet.

‘Alright, then if you win, I’ll be your slave for the day and I’ll do anything you want.’ Ichigo chuckled, convinced that Daenerys would take the throne.

‘You’re already my slave at work,’ Toshiro chuckled as he thought about it, ‘but I accept this and I agree I will be your slave outside of work too if you win, however I know you wont because it’s very _very_ clear that Jon Snow will rule.’

Sometime between this heated discussion and talking about the latest investments at work, Ichigo had laced his fingers into the younger mans hand. His fingers were cool to the touch and it was a wonder why the younger boy wasn’t shivering, because he sure felt cold. Other than that Ichigo couldn’t help but marvel at how beautifully soft the boys skin was, like silk as he ran his thumb gently up and down the side of the boys’ index finger.

They continued hand in hand for the rest of the way down the beach, only passing a couple walking their dog who took no notice of the two and their cute little display of affection. Though it was only hand holding, Ichigo felt a thrill travel through him, at how much he’d wanted to touch so much of the man and yet only this small bit of touching was sending electricity through his entire being.

They continued to talk about investments when they reached a more popular part of the beach, Ichigo could feel Toshiros hesitation and let go of his hand. Not wanting to make the white haired beauty uncomfortable in front of other people, they turned to the left and walked towards the town and various amusement places on the beach front. Ichigo stopped outside a large white building with the word ‘Arcade’ printed above it and Toshiro looked up at it quirking a brow questioningly at Ichigo who grinned and ushered him inside.

 

It was Ichigos hope that by bringing the prodigy here that he’d remember all those good times spent playing games over at Rans house with her and Renji and the others on a lazy Saturday morning. Hoping to revive a little part of himself that had gone after his Grans death, which they still had not spoken about. Ichigo never planned on bringing it up, knowing it would be best to wait until Toshiro would come forward with that information himself.

Inside the arcade Ichigo had to hold back his laughter at how much Toshiro suited this situation. He looked like a kid in a candyshop, or more rightly so a kid in an arcade. They made their way over to a counter where a gruff looking man gave Ichigo change for the notes he handed over. They look their little tub of change and made their way slowly around the arcade trying out a bunch of the different games.

‘It’s been so long, since I last shot at anything.’ Toshiro smirked at a large screen that was counting down in large bold numbers before telling them to start. Ichigo didn’t mention that he’d been hanging out with Ran and Renji, that it would perhaps bring up questions about what else he knew about the young boy genius and he wanted to avoid sensitive topics today.

‘I hope you mean in the gaming world and not in real life.’ Ichigo chuckled as he held up his gun and began firing. The word prodigy sprung to mind when it became apart that Toshiro was reading the actual game mechanics and knew exactly when the next zombie was due to spawn and where. It got to a point that the teal eyed beauty was firing a split second before something would spawn, instantly killing it.

‘How the fuck…?’ Ichigo gasped as Toshiro just saved him for the third time in a row. He could hear the younger mans chuckle beside him and once again resisted the urge to kiss him.

‘These games are all the same,’ he spoke as he waved a hand at the giant screen (they’d completed it with ease thanks to Toshiro). ‘They work on a very simple and practical coding, It’s easy to know exactly where something will spawn if you understand the type of coding the game is made from.’ He shrugged his small shoulders his smirk still on his features as he leaned against an unused arcade machine.

Ichigo couldn’t help himself, the boys smug demeanour was sexy and there was something about that smirk, he’d always wanted to kiss it right off his face. The smirk faltered when Ichigo placed two hands on the arcade machine on either side of Toshiros head. The smirk then faded, his teal eyes widening.

‘Kursoaki?’ He asked his voice hesitant and unsure as Ichigo stared into those beautiful teal eyes. Ichigo could see the young boys hands fidget with unease, playing with one of his belt hoops, twisting it in his fingers.

Ichigo continued to stare at him but said nothing, watching as a bit of colour began dancing across his cheeks, Ichigo brought one of his hands over to gently stroke his thumb across the pale pink flesh, Toshiro jerked his head back, eyes wide and hit his head off the arcade machine behind him. Ichigo couldn’t help but laugh at him as the colour fully flourished in his cheeks from embarrassment.

‘What are you doing?’ He asked, his voice a few octaves higher as he peaked at Ichigo while rubbing the back of his head where it had collided with the machine.

‘Getting you to blush, it’s really quite adorable how much you suit the shade of pink on your face.’

Saying that only caused the colour to become more apparent as the younger boy scowled at him and gently shoved him away.

‘I think I figured something out about you.’ Ichigo continued to grin as he allowed the smaller man to push him away. Toshiro froze and fixed him with an intense stare.

‘Oh?’

‘Yeah, you’re not very comfortable with displays of affection are you? Do they make you uncomfortable?’ Despite it being a Sunday afternoon the section of the arcade they were in didn’t have many people and no one was really looking at them, except a few younger girls who Ichigo could hear groaning behind them. Apparently they had followed them around the arcade arguing about which one of them was cuter, but this display had made them realise that actually… they were both here _together._

‘I-No, I just…’ Toshiro glanced around the arcade as if waiting for something, anything to save him from this situation else he’d die of embarrassment. At least that’s what Ichigo thought as he watched the internal struggle dance across his face. Finally Toshiro sighed and let his body relax.

‘I’ve never been in a situation where someone else has liked me for anything more than my money.’ He spoke so quietly that Ichigo had to lean in to hear him. This surprised the older man who stared at the younger one for a bit of time afterwards. He had not been expecting such an honest answer from his mouth.

‘Well Toshiro-‘

‘Hitsugaya.’

‘-you’re only 18 years old right? Still very young and I can see you breaking a lot of hearts in future.’ Ichigo smiled warmly at the boy who had returned to fidgeting with the loop hole of his jeans.

‘You say that but people are too intimidated to get close to me, those who do usually just want either sex or money.’ He sighed and looked at his feet. Ichigo brought his hand up and curled his index finger under the boys chin, touching the tip of his thumb just under his lower lip and guided his face up to look at him.

‘I’m not intimidated and I certainly don’t want your money. Sex yes, in the future perhaps but I just want to get to know you.’ Toshiro blinked at him and the two continued to stare at each other. Ichigo thought that he could never get sick of this, never get sick of looking into those massive teal eyes. However he didn’t want to make the boy too uncomfortable, though it would have been the perfect time to lean in for a kiss, they had people watching them now and so Ichigo let the boy go and stepped back, holding up the tub of change. ‘Shall we go and kill some dinosaurs?’

 

* * *

 

 

It was amazing what you could learn about someone while killing hoards of zombies, dinosaurs and shooting hoops inside an arcade. He learned that Toshiro was adept at almost everything he tried, he scored every single hoop when they threw the basket balls and there wasn’t a bad guy he couldn’t defeat, he also learned the boy was deadly scared of zombies. Ichigo discovered this when the boys character had let a zombie get to close that it bit him and Toshiro had jumped and cursed at the screen. Upon reflection Ichigo could also remember the boys hands being covered in a cold sweat as he’d reached out to make sure he was okay.

‘So Zombies scare you?’

‘The thought of being eaten alive scares anyone.’

‘That wasn’t answering my question.’ Ichigo chuckled as they rounded a corner and glanced around at what to do next.

‘Yes, zombies scare me.’ He finally admitted and Ichigo grinned at him.

‘So if I dress up on Halloween as a zombie-‘

‘Stop it.’

‘-and come into your apartment complex-‘

‘Seriously stop it!’

‘-and jump out on you-‘

‘I swear I’d punch you in the face and run. I don’t care if it was a joke or a prank you’d be hit so hard you’d be hospitalised and it would be completely your own fault.’

Ichigo laughed at the exchange and stopped to see Toshiro staring at one of the claw hand machines with a frown on his face.

‘You want a shot?’ Ichigo asked shaking their rapidly depleting change under his nose. Tosh jumped out of his daze and glared at the claw machine.

‘These are actually the one things I can never seem to do. I know theres a timer on them, after a certain amount of time it will be scheduled to actually allow the claw to tighten enough to hold a prize but even after sitting observing one I couldn’t work out it’s settings before I had to leave.’

Ichigo blinked at him and laughed, nudging him slightly.

‘I don’t know if that’s true or not, maybe I’m just lucky but I’m usually really good at these things.’ He stepped forward and put change in, turning to Toshiro and asking him what he wanted.   
It was an avengers themed display with small plushies of all the famous avengers superheros. Toshiro eagerly pointed out the Thor plushie and Ichigo worked the claw effortlessly. Teal eyes followed his movements with interest, wide with wonder as the claw picked up the plushie and dropped it down the shaft.

‘Told ya,’ Ichigo chuckled as he opened it up and held up the cute chibi Thor plushie for the younger boy.

‘Well Kurosaki I am impressed.’ He looked impressed, turning the plushie over in his small hands as he quirked a brow at the strawberry blond boy. Ichigo smiled at having been able to show off one of his own skills after spending the entire day being shown up by the younger boy.

Once the plushie was safely stored in Ichigos bag, they made their way over to the air hockey zones and battled it out for a few games. Of course Toshiro won most games and seemed to have an excuse when he didn’t. Ichigo didn’t care, he knew that was just part of the boys personality and he was just happy to be spending time with him, pushing his buttons. At one point Ichigo let a goal happen so he could just stare at the white haired beauty as he smiled.

‘Well I think that’s the best of 5, meaning I’ve won 5, you should have easily been able to block that last goal Kurosaki. You’ve got the reflexes of an 80 year old.’ Toshiro teased before noticing that Ichigo wasn’t even paying attention to the game but was simply looking at him with a small smile on his face. Toshiro blinked stupidly at him. ‘What are you looking at?’

‘You,’ the younger man blushed and straightened up pulling his jumper down and pretending to fix his appearance so he didn’t have to watch the man staring at him. Ichigo chuckled and made his way over to him, checking his watch. ‘Alright the time now is 4pm, I say we head back towards the car there’s somewhere I want to stop off for dinner and we should get there about 5pm.’ Toshiro followed him out the arcade and they walked along the beach again. As they walked they broke down the latest Captain America civil war movie in full detail, debating heavily who would actually win in a fight between Iron Man and The Cap.

‘Yeah but Captain had help.’ Toshiro pointed out for the third time, ‘if Bucky had not been there I am mostly certain that Iron Man would win.’

‘Yes but Friday even said that Iron Man could not beat him in a one to one while they fought…’ This conversation dragged on and Ichigo was tempted several times to reach out and take the younger mans hand but he didn’t. He wanted to wait and see if the young prodigy would do it this time, not always wanting to be the one to make the first moves.

They eventually fell into a comfortable silence, looking out across the ocean as they walked, Ichigo got the sense that a mental battle was pursuing in the younger boys head because when he glanced down at him he could see the internal conflict on his face. His brows were furrowed and his lips had slanted into a frown. Ichigo frowned looking at him, worried about where his mind had gone, if it was reminiscing something about his gran. He had said the last time he’d been to the beach had been a long time ago, what if it was with his gran and this was bringing up bad memories for him?

‘Hey Toshiro are you okay?’ Ichigo asked, his voice laced with concern. ‘What are you thinking about?’ This pulled the boys focus back and he quickly looked down at his feet. Ichigo continued to stare at him, worry etched in his gaze.

‘Nothing.’ He mumbled to his feet before remembering himself and straightening up, squaring his shoulders.

‘Didn’t seem like nothing.’ Perhaps Toshiro had picked up the worried sound in Ichigos voice because he glanced at the older man and Ichigo saw the familiar colour he loved so much springing to the boys cheeks.

‘I just… was thinking… I wanted to…’ He sighed and tentatively reached out to pull Ichigos hand into his own. Ichigo laughed and obliged.

‘Is that what you were thinking about?’ He couldn’t help the smile on his face, causing the younger man to scowl.

‘No… well yes.’ He mumbled and frowned ahead of them not willing to look Ichigo in the face now as they walked. Aware his laughing wouldn’t help the situation, Ichigo gave Toshiros hand a comforting squeeze which was returned and they continued walking down the beach together.

Very soon Ichigo led them off the beach to a new building that had appeared to have been just recently built. From the outside it was white and designed to look old, with black paintwork around the old style windows and black door. An old style sign hung above its entry, painted in black and creaking in the gentle breeze.

_‘The Horseshoe inn.’_

Ichigo led the curious boy inside and the door closed comfortably behind them. The pub smelled of old oak wood and whiskey and Toshiros eyes widened in wonder. Behind an old looking bar there were loads of artefacts of Scotland, including a real set of bagpipes and pictures of the beautiful country hung on the wall. The lighting was dim and in the background there played some soft bagpipe music.

‘Is this a Scottish pub?’ Toshiro asked, not trying to hide the excitement in his voice.

‘As much of one as we can get here in the states, yes.’ Ichigo replied, smiling down at Toshiro. ‘I figured you liked Scotland since the only water you drink is Highland Spring and that whiskey you poured us in your car was a 25 year old Chivas Regal Scotch whiskey.’

‘I’d like to retract yesterdays comment.’ Toshiro replied as his eyes eagerly looked around the pub at all the old style barrels and stools.

‘What comment?’

‘About you not being astute.’

Ichigo laughed and led his date towards a small private table at the back. It was separated from the rest of the pub with a wooden screen and a Scottish flag was tacked to the ceiling above them. He’d already made the manager aware of their visit here when he’d drove down by himself and tipped him to make sure this table in particular was free. He was happy to learn that the burly Scotsman who owned the bar had moved here with his husband two years ago to start up this small business. American people from far and wide drove to come to this small pup.

‘Ah welcome,’ came the gruff voice laden with a Scottish accent. ‘Whit can ah get fer ye?’ The burly looking man pulled out a little notepad and pen and was ready to take their order.

‘Well starting off with drinks, I’m driving but Toshiro do you want anything to drink?’

‘I’ll have a Scotch on the rocks, whatever brand you suggest.’ Toshiro grinned up at the man. Knowing he was underage the man simply winked.

‘Where ah come fae ye can drink when yer 18 mah wee laddie sae dinnae worry aboot ah tha’ ah’ve got th’ perfect yin fer yeh.’ He turned towards Ichigo who could barely understand what he was saying but Toshiro seemed pleased with the words that come out from his mouth so Ichigo went along.

‘I’ll just have lemonade please.’

The man – who they learned was called Duncan – shuffled away to ready their drinks as they looked at the food menu.

‘It’s all very Scottish.’ Toshiro chided with delight. He wasn’t kidding there was battered fish, every other thing on the menu seemed to be deep fried, there was a Scotch pie – some kind of mince in a pie but not like the ones you’d get at Christmas – Haggis, black pudding, full day breakfasts, roasts and mince and tatties.

‘Think I’ll go with the cottage pie.’ Ichigo smiled, pleased with his order while Toshiro choose the Angus burger, as they waited for their food Toshiro was pointing out a lot of the artefacts around the pub and explaining enthusiastically to Ichigo what each of them were.

‘Where did this fascination with Scotland come from?’ Ichigo asked as he eyed the younger boy.

Toshiro was thoughtful and then decided to finally talk to him. ‘My Gran who raised me, was originally from the country. I took it upon myself to try and learn as much as I could about the place.’

‘Ah,’ Ichigo hadn’t wanted the topic to be raised but now that it had, he could hardly ignore it. ‘What part of Scotland was she from?’

‘Edinburgh, I went there after my final years of studying with her to see the place. It’s beautiful. Here we have giant buildings so big that any Scot would marvel in wonder at how they could be built so high, but there the land is timeless. They have sidewalks older than some of our churches.’ He smiled at the memory and they both thanked the server when he arrived with their food. They ate in silence for a while.

‘My gran passed away last year.’ He finally offered and Ichigo quickly swallowed to study him. Toshiro didn’t look like he was upset, but Ichigo could clearly see the frown on his face as he remembered.

‘I am really sorry Toshiro. She sounds like she was an amazing woman.’ Ichigo wanted to steer the conversation away from all the agony and try and focus on the happier relationship that Toshiro had with her before she passed.

‘She was, when we went to Scotland she was so happy, she taught me so much. We even visited the old Victorian apartments where she was raised.’ He was smiling and Ichigo felt better, this was the best route for this conversation. He didn’t want his date to become upset and start crying, what a catastrophe that would be on a first date.

At that moment Ichigos phone lit up on the table and he looked at it. Ran had just text him asking how it was going. A few seconds later and the same thing happened to Toshiros. They both laughed and continued eating.

‘We should mess with Rangiku.’ Toshiro finally said, a wicked grin appearing on his face.

‘What did you have in mind?’ Ichigo asked finishing his lemonade and putting his empty plate and glass to the side to study the boy.

‘We both tell her it went terribly wrong, you can tell her I was too hot headed and I can tell her you were too…’ He frowned eyeing Ichigo, ‘to…. Hmm?’

‘Happy?’ Ichigo offered with a grin earning a scowl from the boy. ‘How about too clingy and possessive?’

Toshiro nodded, ‘we can’t both text her back at the same time though or she’ll suspect something.’

‘Why do I get the feeling this isn’t your first time winding her up?’

‘It’s not it used to be one of my favourite pass times when we hung out.’

‘Hmmm…’ Ichigo was going to ask why they stopped hanging out, but avoided the question. He knew the answer of course but didn’t want to bring the conversation back up. ‘Alright, you text her back, I’m going to go to the bathroom then when I come back I’ll reply. Deal?’

‘Okay,’ Toshiro smirked evilly as he eyed his phone, his eyes flashing and he quickly responded to the text with rapid speed.

A good few minutes later Ichigo was finished fixing his hair and outfit in the bathroom before coming back out to their table. While he’d been away Toshiro had been frantically texting Ran and Ichigo could see the evil smirk on his face.

‘How goes the torture?’ Ichigo asked slipping back onto his seat, Toshiro chuckled and handed the older man his phone to read through the texts.

_‘So hows the date going? Xx’_

_‘Terrible, I had to ask him to bring me home early, I’m just glad to be back in my apartment,’_

_‘Oh no! :( What happened? Xx’_

_‘He was far too clingy and possessive I didn’t expect him to be like that all. Monday is going to be awkward as fuck.’_

_‘Oh dear :( that doesn’t sound like Ichigo! I hope you’re alright? Xx’_

_‘Yeah I’m fine now, just going to need to figure out a way of dealing with this mess on Monday is all.’_

_‘I can speak to him don’t worry :( Xx’_

‘You’re a cruel man Toshiro,’ Ichigo laughed as he handed him his phone back, the younger boy grinned evilly and nodded at Ichigos phone.

‘Your turn,’ he said and Ichigo unlocked his phone and thoughtfully stared at the screen for a few minutes.

_‘It didn’t go well Ran, sorry he was really cold and distant, didn’t want to do anything really. Wouldn’t open up or even speak to me.’_

_‘We will talk tomorrow :( Xx’_

_‘Alright I’d like that.’_

‘This is too cruel Toshiro.’ Ichigo groaned, feeling really bad for his friend. Toshiro was grinning and then jumped when his phone rang.

‘It’s her,’ he hissed at Ichigo before answering it. ‘Hello?’

Ichigo watched Toshiro for a while, he could hear Rans upset voice in the background. Something about the tone of her voice being _that_ upset brought some sense to the younger boy who frowned down the phone. ‘Gosh Rangiku, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to upset you.’

There was silence then there was a shrill rise of her voice on the other end of the line which had Ichigo laughing.

_‘You bastards you’re winding me up aren’t you? I’d expect this from you Toshiro but not Ichigo, is he there? I’ll kick him in his-‘_

‘Gotta go sorry Rangiku, love you bye!’ Toshiro quickly hung up the phone and the two boys laughed. It was weird hearing those words slip from the prodigies mouth but it sounded so natural too, like he’d said that he loved Rangiku a million times before. Not long after this exchange Ichigo paid for the meal and the two of them headed outside. It was now well after 7pm and the sky was getting dark, they walked hand in hand back along the side of the beach (the tide was in) and towards the car.

 

Both boys hadn’t realised how cold they were until they slipped into the vehicle and blasted the heating. Ichigo drove them back home as Toshiro Dj’d the tunes.

‘We have quite the similar taste in music.’ Toshiro smiled as he continued scrolling down through Ichigos playlists.

‘Yeah I noticed that too, given the way you badly sung along to half the songs.’

‘I know I’m not a good singer,’ Toshiro laughed and looked over at Ichigo. Ichigo was sure the look was kind as he peaked from the corner of his eyes at him. ‘You’re quite a good singer though.’ This time Ichigo felt colour flood his cheeks.

‘No I’m not.’ He mumbled shyly and he could hear the smirk on Toshiros face as he replied.

‘Now look who’s embarrassed.’ He chided as he returned to scrolling through Ichigos phone.

 

Most of the drive was spent either in comfortable silence as they stared up at the stars on the roads home and marvelled at the sky line of New York City from a distance and by singing loudly and badly to some of their favourite songs, one of which – embarrassingly – was the entire Pokemon theme song.

Ichigo was almost sad when he pulled up outside Toshiros apartment complex after 8pm. He turned his engine off and sat back in his seat. He liked to sit quite far away from the steering wheel while he drove so he couldn’t actually put his chair back any further if he’d tried. There was a gentle mummer of people outside the car who were walking about their busy lives, laughing and bustling about in the cool night air. Not one of them paid them any attention to the dark tinted windows of the car. Toshiro turned to Ichigo and smiled shyly at him.

‘Thanks for today, I had a lot of fun.’

Ichigo grinned back at the boy, ‘me too, it was nice seeing Toshiro and not just Hitsugaya for once.’ He watched as the faint pink made its way back across the younger boys cheeks. Toshiro scooted close to Ichigo in the car and Ichigo couldn’t help but smile as he leaned forward. Their lips met softly at first, testing the waters, then Toshiro seemed to melt into it, Ichigo wrapped his arms around the smaller boys waist and lifted him effortlessly across to his side of the car. Toshiro gasped at how easily he was removed from the passenger seat. The truth was that Ichigo had been working out massively, to get rid of all his pent up sexual frustration but also so that he would have a body worth showing off if anything did happen between them. He never realised that the work outs would come in handy for this. Toshiro was now sitting with all his weight on Ichigos right leg as Ichigo took the mass of his body weight with his left arm. The younger man was light as a feather and Ichigo had no issues holding him up, Toshiros legs were draped across the passenger seat as Ichigos mouth found his once again. This time the kiss was more desperate and Toshiro opened his mouth to gasp. Ichigo felt his breath enter his own mouth and it made his head swirl, tentatively he felt the younger boys tongue enter his mouth and he greeted it enthusiastically with his own. His right hand crept up the smaller mans thigh and Toshiro squirmed on his lap gasping as they broke apart for air. Ichigos hand continued to stroke down and up the inside the younger boys thigh as he felt his legs spread a bit wider. Lowering his lips, Ichigo kissed along the jaw line of the prodigy who tilted his head back to expose his neck.   
Toshiros hands found themselves creeping up Ichigos neck and into his hair as Ichigo kissed at the sensitive flesh of his exposed neck.

‘Kurisaki…’ Toshiro groaned and then whimpered as Ichigo bit down harshly on his neck. ‘What was that for?’ Toshiro groaned.

‘It’s Ichigo.’ Ichigo moaned into the younger mans ear, causing him to shudder. The strawberry blond then continued his assault against the exposed neck flesh, nipping and kissing it lightly, earning gasps of approval from its owner. Ichigo was so thankful that the boy was resting on his right leg, so he wouldn’t feel how insanely hard he had gotten, his erection was tucked off to the left and away from the younger mans body.

‘Ichi-go,’ the boy gasped and wriggled on his lap once again, the use of his name caused an approving groan from the older male as he brought his head up to lock lips with the younger man once more. Their lips crashed together with even more urgency than before and Ichigos hand moved further up, brushing lightly against the fully clothed arousal of the younger man who gasped.

‘I have to stop.’ Ichigo said as he pulled back, his voice was thick with lust and he knew it was in his eyes too. The teal gaze of the younger man who was panting in his arms was half lidded and somewhere far away. Ichigo helped the younger man back over to his side of the car and the two of them tried to regain their breath and composure.

‘Why did… you stop?’ Toshiro asked, taking a deep breath in the middle to try and clear his head.

‘If I didn’t stop then I don’t think I’d have been able too and this car is a rental.’ Ichigo laughed as he gestured around the vehicle.

‘You could always come inside?’ Toshiro offered and Ichigo swallowed hard, his entire body which was still engulfed in a raging hormonal flame screaming to take the younger mans offer.

‘I can’t I need to get this car back before the place shuts at 9pm, otherwise I’d take you up on that offer.’ Ichigo spoke his voice very sincere and the prodigy nodded his head, still a little out of it.

‘I will see you in work tomorrow then Kurosaki.’ Toshiro smirked as he opened the door and stepped out the car.

‘Bye _Toshiro_ have pleasant dreams.’ Ichigo called sarcastically back to the younger man who closed the door and offered a middle finger up at the car before walking inside the complex. Ichigo laughed as he watched him go and drove away with a massive grin plastered on his face.

 

 


	7. The White Tie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a beautiful piece of art to go with it ;) 
> 
> [Click here for picture](http://orig07.deviantart.net/db1f/f/2016/278/f/a/tosh_and_ichi_water_by_moscomoon-dak0cfa.jpg)

Ichigo couldn’t remember a time he’d been so damn happy to wake up on a Monday morning. He stretched gracefully out across his double bed, taking up both sides and glanced over at his alarm. He’d even woken up _early._ He switched the alarm off before it had a chance to make its annoying high pitched noises and dove into the shower wondering what the day had in store for him. Before he went to sleep last night he had been playing the day over and over again in his mind, it had gone so well and he didn’t want to forget a single detail of it. He couldn’t help the grin that had plastered itself onto his visage and remained them thoroughly as he went about his morning routine of getting ready.

 

Instead of walking toward the office he skipped… _skipped._ He was skipping! He didn’t even care, the little spring in his step and the smile on his face had a lot of people staring. Someone openly commented asking if he’d been laid the night before or something which just made him laugh. People could be so shallow, it wasn’t always sex that left you on a euphoric high. Now that he thought about it though, that kiss in the car had been so good. He could still remember how soft Toshiros lips were pressed against his own and how light the younger mans body was as he held him on his lap. Ichigo hadn’t even noticed that it was raining lightly until he got into the office and spotted the droplets of water residing in his spiky orange hair on the frosted glass. He’d just stuck with the black theme today wearing the same leather jacket that he’d come to adore with the collar turned up at the sides and a plain black shirt with his thin silver chain.

 

Ran was right, the colour black really made his hair stand out more; he was almost a bit self conscious of it now as he walked through the glass hallways towards the office. Opening the door he froze at the scene before him.

Ran was in _early._ She was stood behind her desk a cup of coffee in her hands and a huge smile on her face. Following her gaze he turned towards his own desk and blinked. Toshiro was perched on it, his legs dangling off the ground and a smile on his face. It was clear he and Ran had just been talking about something good. They both turned to him as he walked in and Ran offered him a smile.

‘Am I late?’ Ichigo asked sarcastically as he looked at Ran who just laughed at him.

‘Ichigo you’re never late.’ Ran chuckled, her voice was almost teasing as she winked at him.

‘Perfect record.’ Toshiro muttered bringing a cup up to his own lips to sip it gently.

‘Such a goodie goodie,’

‘Really just a suck up,’

‘You’d know after last night I’m sure.’ That last comment from Ran caused Toshiro to splutter on his tea and glare at her.

‘Well it’s nice to know you’re both not just going to be teasing me.’ Ichigo muttered turning his attention properly to Toshiro and noticing what he was wearing. He was in a _stunning_ white waistcoat, white tie adorned on a pale icy blue shirt, white dress trousers and shoes. It wasn’t exactly the same white suit he had seen him wear at vogue but it was still close enough to cause his breath to catch in his throat. Toshiro spotted him staring and quickly glanced down at his own mug of tea. Ichigo could almost _feel_ Ran quiver with delight from across her desk. Ichigo took a deep breath and walked around the side of his desk, dumping his bag down on the floor and removing his leather jacket. Toshiro leaned back, putting a hand on the edge of the desk to keep balance as he did so, his beautiful teal eyes locked onto Ichigos and they just looked at each other for a few moments. Ichigos gaze softening as he realised he’d never grow bored or tired of seeing those beautiful big teal eyes.

‘Hi.’ Toshiro whispered so low Ichigo almost didn’t hear him, he tilted his chin up slightly and Ichigo grinned, leaning in and kissing him gently on the lips. They were aware they weren’t alone in the room, so Ichigo only held it for a few seconds before pulling away.

‘Hello.’ He said, trying to keep the husky voice at bay as it threatened to overtake him.

‘Right kiddos I have a meeting at 8:30am which is why I came in here early, so I’ll be off.’ He slipped off Ichigos desk and refused to look at either of them as he walked towards the door to exit.

‘Kiddos.’ Ichigo scoffed at his back and once the door swung shut behind him, Ran gushed.

_‘OH MY GOD!_ Tell me what happened, I want every little detail don’t skip out on anything Ichigo I’ll know if you have I swear.’ She gushed, hopping from one foot to the next with sheer delight.

‘I promise to tell you everything on our Lunch break if you help me get through todays stack of papers instead of leaving me to do all the hard work.’ He offered, she considered this for a while before nodding her head.

‘Deal.’

 

The morning was spent comfortably, Ran and Ichigo worked hard to get through the days stack of papers and reports that were due, he even realised that after Lunch they could make a start on tomorrows reports which were due. As the clock struck 12pm Ran was on her feet.

‘Alright Ichigo I’ve done enough you can’t hold this over me forever. We’re going to lunch and you’re telling me all about it.’ She grinned grabbing her coat. Ichigo sighed and then smiled back at her, the truth was he was dying to talk about it too. At that moment the office door opened and Toshiro walked back in. He glanced between the two of them.

‘Oh, are you two going for lunch?’ He asked spotting them putting their jackets on.

‘Yes sir, we’re going to that new little café across the road,’ Ran smiled at him and watched as he turned to look at Ichigo. ‘Ah, did you want to go to lunch with Ichigo on your own sir?’

‘I don’t think I’ll have time even if I wanted too.’ He sighed and Ichigo glanced over at Ran.

‘Why don’t you tell us what you want and we could order for you, surely you can spare 20 minutes and you can meet us there? It’s just across the street.’ Ran smiled reassuringly at him.

Toshiro glanced back at Ichigo and nodded.

‘Just order me a BLT and coke, I’ll try and get there as fast as I can.’ He walked towards his office when Ichigo remembered something.

‘Oh Tosh- sir.’ He faltered, dipping below his desk to invade his bag. He pulled out the Thor plushie and tossed it to him, the prodigy caught it with ease and a smile graced his lips as he tried to hide it from Ran, he thanked Ichigo with a glance and quickly slipped inside his own office.

‘What was that?’ Ran asked as she and Ichigo walked out the office to head to the café.

‘I’ll tell you once we get there.’

 

* * *

 

 

Ichigo had finished telling Ran mostly everything that happened that night, his story was coming to an end as he spoke about the drive back home and Ran was watching him as if he were as interesting as a soap on TV.

‘Then what?’ She asked, excitement already in her voice as she leaned across the table towards him.

‘Then we kissed.’ She squealed with delight causing the couple behind them to jump and look at her.

‘Oh my gosh, this is amazing, just amazing I can’t believe it.’ She was so giddy she was practically shaking with delight. ‘Okay so like… was it a little kiss like you two demonstrated today in the office or like a passionate one full of heat and tongue that you just kind of melt into?’ She asked, her baby blue eyes alight with excitement as she watched the colour creep into her friends face.

‘The uh, second one.’ Ichigo muttered and his ears were assaulted with another squeal.

‘What’s all this squealing about?’ Came the cold crisp voice of Toshiro as he walked towards the table.

‘Hi Toshiro,’ Ran greeted him and smiled warmly, ‘Ichigo here was just telling me about yesterday. I didn’t give him a choice really, but I’m just so happy for you two.’ Ichigo was sitting there feeling the heat on his cheeks as he tried his best to look anywhere but at the two before him.

‘Oh was he,’ Toshiro mumbled as he glanced at Ichigo. Ichigo could feel his teal eyes bore into his head and he finally turned with a sigh to meet them, offering him a kind smile.

‘Well rather she pestered you about it than I, I can imagine you described the day better than I could. I’m terrible at this stuff.’ He muttered as he pulled his chair in with a foot as he sat down. Their food arrived almost instantly after Toshiro did which was perfect timing on his part given that he couldn’t stay very long at all.

Ran ate her meal quickly then excused herself to go to the bathroom, the two boys weren’t stupid they could tell she had done it to give them some privacy and Ichigo wasn’t sure about Toshiro but he was very thankful for it.

‘Did you sleep well last night?’ Ichigo asked as they watched Rans back disappear off into the crowed.

‘Yes good, you?’ Toshiro asked turning back to look at Ichigo as he drank more of his lemonade.

‘Yeah, it’s the first time in a long time I was actually excited about coming to work on a Monday morning.’ He smiled and Toshiro glanced to the side. Ichigo saw some colour appearing on his cheeks as he rested the side of his face on his hand on top of the table.

‘I was actually a bit excited too.’ He muttered and Ichigo grinned broadly at him.

‘I see you wore white today too.’

‘You said it looked good.’

‘It does.’ Ichigo hummed as he let his eyes ravish the sight of the boy before him, trying to stop his mind from mentally undressing him.

Toshiro spotted the look and cleared his throat, sitting back up straight and straightening his tie.

‘I wanted to ask you something Kurosaki.’ There it was again, that bloody last name deal. Ichigo waited patiently deciding that during working hours was not the best time to scold the younger male for the formality.

‘I wanted… to see if you’d like to come to mine for a movie after work tonight?’ Toshiro asked, he wasn’t even looking at Ichigo anymore but rather directly ahead of him.

Ichigo grinned, what was this? A second date? Either way Ichigo was happy to oblige. He waited a long time before responding though, he was waiting for those teal eyes to look at him. Eventually they did and they were full of panic. Clearly the long pause had left the younger man thinking that there was a possibility he’d say no.

‘I’d love to,’ Ichigo finally said as Toshiro looked at him. The teal eyes narrowed at him but the boy seemed to breathe a small sigh of relief.

Clearly not at all noticing the moment the two men were having a rather attractive woman approached the table and leaned across it. She had long brown hair and deep hazel eyes, she wasn’t half bad looking if you were attracted to women. Ichigos eyes were narrowed thinking she was about to make a move on _his_ man when her eyes locked with his.

‘Hey there, my name is Yazmin, I was wondering if you were single?’ It was so bold and it caught Ichigo completely by surprise, he blinked at her a few times. His eyes wide he stuttered.

‘A-actually, I’m err… seeing someone.’ He gasped out, colour flooding his face at having been asked out by a girl in front of the guy he really liked.

‘That’s a pity, whoever she is she must be hot because you’ve got the body of a God, I can see it through your shirt.’ As she said it her eyes danced hungrily over his outfit and he felt violated.

‘He’s not a piece of meat you know.’ The voice was so cold, so laced with distaste that both Ichigo and Yazmin turned to stare at Toshiro as if he’d just slapped her.

‘Oh…’ She quickly leaned back, ‘sorry I didn’t mean to come across as a perv but it’s just that your friends really hot.’

Toshiro was glaring at her so profusely, it was a wonder her face didn’t melt off onto the pavement below.

‘I’ll be going now.’ She yipped and quickly scampered away. There was a moment of silence that followed this scene and Ichigo lifted his glass of lemonade to his mouth, a smirk on his face as he quoted something Toshiro said at the Vogue shoot.

‘“I don’t need you to stick up for me Toshiro that’s not why you’re here.”’ He spoke more into his glass than anything else but the young prodigy just scowled at him regardless, which caused Ichigo to smirk more.

‘I’m back,’ Ran sang in her high chiming voice as she walked towards the table. She stared at the scowling younger boy and the grinning Ichigo and raised an eye brow. ‘What did I miss?’

‘Ichigo getting chatted up.’ Toshiro said, still making the entire café seem colder from just his voice.

‘A girl asked if I was single that’s all.’ Ichigo corrected as he lowered his empty lemonade glass onto the table.

‘Well no wonder Ichigo you are a hottie, especially in those black shirts wouldn’t you say so Toshiro?’

Ichigo smiled and turned to Toshiro. ‘Yeah Tosh, what do you think?’

The younger man looked beyond uncomfortable and he could tell that they were only ganging up on him for this kind of reaction.

‘Yes you look really good Kurosaki but don’t ever call me ‘Tosh’ again, regardless of how much you’ve worked out recently I could still cause you a lot of pain.’

‘We’ve got to work on your bedroom talk.’ Ichigo muttered and Ran threw back her head and laughed, clapping her hands once as she did so. Toshiros ears burned red and it made his white hair and attire stand out more.

‘I’m going back.’ He stood up in a huff, clearly he had been defeated, and he turned but then hesitated and turned back to Ichigo. ‘I’ll get you just outside my office at 5pm.’

It wasn’t even a question just a statement and he walked off without glancing back. Ran sat back down at the table and smiled at Ichigo.

‘God I’m so glad you came here, I’ve not had this much fun with him in a long time and regardless of what he says or how he acts I can tell he really likes you.’ Ran smiled warmly at Ichigo and Ichigo smiled back her, taking the time to appreciate how happy he was that they were friends.

 

* * *

 

 

‘If I have to look at one more report, I swear I am going to claw my eyes out and leave them sitting here on the desk just for a break.’ Ichigo was startled to hear such a deplorable thing from some a – usually – bright and chirpy human being. He looked across the top part of his desk at her.

‘Look at it this way Ran, we’ve done basically 3 or 4 days worth of paperwork today, Toshiro will be pleased, it might even free him up a bit. I was thinking.’ He hesitated and glanced at the door to the CEO’s office. ‘That maybe we can even get him out and back at yours this weekend playing video games with you and Renji.’

‘You think he’s ready for that again?’ She asked, clearly trying hard not to get her hopes up. Ichigo nodded.

‘I do, the way he was in the arcade I could see it, he misses it.’ He recalled the joy on the younger mans beautifully cold features as he shot through hordes of zombies and saved Ichigo more times than he’d dare admit. ‘I think he’s been missing everyone but he’s not known how to come back to you all without the emotional involvement of having to open up about all the stuff that happened.’

‘That makes sense, he hates talking about feelings and emotions he was always like that.’ She was thoughtful and then shook her head. ‘Something for us to discuss more this week now that we have a bit of extra time freed up, I need to get home, Gin and I have dinner reservations. He’s taking me to a beautiful and expensive restaurant tonight, it was actually the one we went to on our first ever date when he asked me out all those years ago.’ Her eyes were distant and far away as she remembered and Ichigo smiled at her, watching her. He hoped one day that someone would think about him with that look on their face despite however many years they’d been together. Well one person in particular.

‘Get out of here then, Toshiro wont mind if you leave ten minutes early when he sees all we’ve done today and if he starts getting upset I’ll just kiss him.’ He laughed and Ran grinned at him. She quickly packed her stuff up as Ichigo stood up to stretch out after being hunched over a desk all day. She ran over and gave him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek.

‘Thank you so much Ichigo!’ She mused and Ichigo still felt himself curious at the feeling of her breasts pressed up against him. It wasn’t in a physical attraction kind of way, he’d resounded himself to finally accepting that he may be completely gay, it was more just fascination than anything else.

‘Have a good night,’ Ichigo smiled as she fled out the door. He stood for a moment in the aftermath of euphoric amity that only Ran could leave behind in a room before checking the time on his computer. It was nearly 5pm anyway so he slowly started tidying up, taking empty coffee cups to the bin and neatening up the things on his desk as he waited patiently for the CEO to come out of his office.

At 5pm almost exactly (a few seconds after) the door opened and closed with its usual gentle snap and Ichigo looked up from his desk. He’d never really get tired of seeing the man with his beautiful spiky hair and gorgeous teal eyes. Teal eyes that were staring at him with a slight quirk to his brow as he asked, ‘are you ready?’

‘Yes sir.’ Ichigo straightened up and absentmindedly pulled up the collar of his leather jacket as he walked around the desk to follow Toshiro out. He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination or not but he was sure he saw an unusual look in Toshiro’s eyes as he did it.

‘Will I just get a taxi from your place tonight?’ Ichigo asked as he glanced at his clock, he wasn’t sure how long a movie would take but a huge part of him kind of hoped it would be a constant stream of never ending movies so he wouldn’t have to leave.

‘That wont be necessary I’ll take you home myself.’ There was a sexual innuendo there that just begged to be addressed.

‘That’s what he said.’ He chuckled at his own joke and watched the top of Toshiros ears turn red.

‘Are you 5 years old Kurosaki?’ Toshiro growled at him but there was a hint of amusement there in his voice. Hidden deeeep down. Ichigo just smiled as they made their way into the elevator. The elevator door closed and suddenly Ichigo felt very _very_ hot. Since the car related… err.. kiss the evening before he’d not been in a closely confined space with the boy since, now that he was he could feel the electricity in the air between them. It was like there was something in the air between them, as he stood by the younger mans side the urge to touch him was overwhelming but he knew if he obliged he would not be able to stop himself. He’d ravish him up against the wall of the elevator until they were both a panting mess on the floor, covered in each others sweat. His entire right arm was tingling from the boys own body heat as they stood with arms just barely touching. Ichigo was holding his breath again and let it out when the door opened onto the floor of the underground car park. The cold air swept in and he welcomed the feeling on his heat prickled skin. Toshiro didn’t seem the least bit affected by that encounter and walked out towards one of the last remaining cars as if nothing had happened. Ichigo almost gave a low whistle at the car. He liked cars and he knew this model, he’d been on the BWM website recently. It was a black BMW Series 7 Saloon with tainted windows.

‘Nice car,’ Ichigo commented with a laugh, ‘makes the one I picked you up in yesterday look like a joke.’

‘I liked the one you picked me up in, I like modesty but when I came to work in my modest little Ford people were talking about the company going bankrupt.’ He scowled at the memory as he unlocked the car with a click of a button. ‘I still use it for daily driving outside of work though.’ The two boys slipped into the leather interior of the car and Ichigo glanced around at it, it was stunning. It even still had that new car smell.

‘Have you had a chance to christen it yet?’ He asked curiously and watched the younger male for his reaction.

‘Christen?’ Toshiro looked confused as he began to drive out from the underground car park.

‘Yeah, have you had sex in it yet?’ Ichigo was so blunt and Toshiro blinked for a few moments.

‘No I’ve not.’ He replied quickly as he glanced at Ichigo, normally he was the one to boldly ask about sex. He liked when he was in control and Ichigo knew this, whenever he caught him off guard by bringing up sex first he could usually get the boy to blush.

‘Well if you ever want too, I’m just a call away.’

‘So you wont screw me on the desk but you’ll screw me in my car?’

‘I never said I wouldn’t screw you on the desk I just said that I’d like to get to know you a bit first.’ Ichigo chuckled and turned to him, lowering his voice in what he hoped would sound like a low husky drawl. ‘Besides how do I know what pleases you if I don’t know you?’

‘Watch yourself Kurosaki or I may need to park up and teach you a lesson.’ Toshiro pulled off the sexy husky voice way better than he did and Ichigo smiled in defeat sitting back in his chair.

It wasn’t long before Toshiro was pulling into the underground parking of his own complex and left the expensive car next to a rather dingy looking Ford.

‘Was that the ford? I see what you mean, very modest.’ Ichigo smiled at the white car, somehow it was much more like the Toshiro he had seen yesterday than the sexy CEO of the big company boss-man-sir he came across as at work.

‘Yes I do prefer that car.’ Toshiro looked at it longingly and led Ichigo to a staircase. They walked up it and it led them to just outside the massive complex. The smiling gentleman was in his emerald green tux and waved warmly and opened the door.

‘Good evening Mr Hitsugaya and guest.’

‘Good evening Nigel, this is Ichigo Kurosaki an associate of mine at work.’ Ichigo grinned and shook hands with the older man who seemed pleased to be treated so kindly.

‘It is a pleasure to meet you Mr Kurosaki,’ Ichigo nodded to him and was lead inside by Toshiro. The entire inside of the complex was stunning. A lovely pale marble decorated the desks and steady rounded beams that held the massive ceiling in place. A beautiful chandelier filled with diamonds and lights twinkled above their heads and were placed eloquently over a massive mosaic flooring. The doomed ceiling was  painted with old rustic looking paintings of angels and other biblical dictations. Ichigo tried his best not to look around too much least he seem out of place as Toshiro lead him into an expensive looking elevator. There was even a man in this elevator wearing the same emerald green tux who asked which floor they were heading to and proceeded to push the correct button.

There was less electricity in this elevator ride, mostly because they stood further apart and there was someone else present. As the doors opened Toshiro led Ichigo out into a hallway. Unlike a hotel which had doors to rooms everywhere this hallway was long and had only a fire escape at the two ends, a door heading to stairs just to the left of the elevator and only one door directly in front of them. The door was embroiled with golden letters reading ‘T. Hitsugaya’ upon a polished dark oak. Toshiro unlocked it and swung the door open which creaked gently under the weight of such fine wood. He flicked a light on and Ichigos massive eyes darted around the apartment.

Toshiro seemed to have taken a step to the side to allow Ichigo time to marvel. From where they came in, directly to the left was an open plan kitchen, the bunkers coming out to create a bar looking position to the rest of the living room. Just like his office the entire opposite wall was made of tinted glass that held a perfect and breathtaking view of the city, two of the large glass panels (the one to the far left and the far right) were doors that led out to a balcony that could be seen just outside the window. Delicate white sheer curtains draped lazily over the glass and the white and black modern looking décor blended beautifully with the 2 large black leather sofas that were pointed towards a massive TV in the centre of the living room. To the left where they came in was what Ichigo assumed was a coat cupboard.

‘Wow,’ he muttered glancing around the place, ‘I can’t believe you live here, what a view Toshiro.’ He muttered as he moved towards the window to glance out at the city.

‘Yeah its pretty nice, Rangiku actually helped me pick it out.’ He seemed a little sad at the memory as he joined Ichigo in taking his shoes off and leaving them beside the kitchen bunker. They walked up to one of the glass window panes and gazed out across the beautiful city. ‘Sometimes I sleep in the living room just because of this view.’ He was whispering and Ichigo knew why. This view was so beautiful and delicate that if they spoke too loud they may shatter it.

‘You two did a great job picking it out.’ Ichigo whispered, he glanced back over his shoulder and saw that around the corner from the coat cupboard there was an arch that lead out to other closed doors. He figured these would be the bedroom(s)? and bathroom.

‘I’ll give you the tour,’ Toshiro smiled and Ichigo followed behind him as he led the way towards the archway.

The bathroom was stunning, dark grey tiles and the same modern white approach with a ceiling shower room and large bathtub. There were only 2 bedrooms for he didn’t see the need for more than this. One was basically empty except for a large double bed and the other was his own personal room. Ichigo was excited for this the most, there wasn’t a lot in terms of personality in the room, but there was enough. A tartan cover lay at the end of white bed sheets adorned with tartan stag heads. There was a bookcase full of all kinds of books that took up an entire side of a wall. There was a walk in wardrobe with glass panels on the other side of the bed a large glass door leading out to the same balcony that connected to the living room and was covered with satin curtains. On one wall was a beautiful canvas painting of a large ice dragon and besides the odd scattering of ties and suit jackets and some weights in the corner there wasn’t anything out of place in the plain white room.

They barely spoke as Ichigo just looked around and soon made their way back into the living room. ‘It’s really a beautiful place you have Toshiro,’ Ichigo sat down on the leather sofa after copying Toshiro and removing his jacket to put over the back of one of the kitchen bar stools.

‘Thank you,’ he hummed, flicking off the lights and turning the TV on with a single flick of a touch remote.

‘So what are we watching?’ Ichigo asked as Toshiro flicked through the movies on his screen.

‘Well I’ve heard a lot of positive reviews about this rather indie movie set in Britain about the gay rights movement in the 1980’s as they tried to help the minors strikes. It’s supposed to be really good. It won a BAFTA and was nominated for a Golden Globe, naturally as an investor in the movie industry I need to be up to date on this stuff, it’s called Pride.’

Ichigo was intrigued, normally he’d put on some kind of action movie but the plot of this one captured his interest and he agreed. The movie’s intro was opening up and already at the beginning he found himself chuckling away at the provocative British sense of humour.

_‘I’ve spoken to the council about your deviant parties.’ Came the voice of a grumpy looking older man in the movie._

_‘There’s no need to do that, knock on the door we’d let you in.’ Came the camp reply of one of the main characters._

_‘They’re sending a police man!’_

_‘Oh I do hope so!’_

Ichigo was glancing at the smaller man who seemed to be sitting as far away from Ichigo as possible on the couch and he almost pouted.

‘You know the movie looks a lot better from over here.’ He grinned and Toshiro turned to him rolling his eyes. He slid over a little more but Ichigo wasn’t having any of it. He opened his arms wide and gestured for the boy to get closer. Toshiro slid a little closer still and Ichigo lost all his patience, he leaned forward and effortlessly pulled the boy to his side earning a gasp of surprise from the younger man.

‘There, see? It’s better here…’ Ichigo purred into his ear and felt the younger man shudder. Realising he wasn’t getting away Toshiro obliged and leaned into Ichigo who wrapped an arm around him as he leaned back against his chest. This was what he had been looking forward too when Toshiro had invited him over for a movie, he had wanted this. A chance to have the smaller man lying with his head on his chest, it was amazing how well the white haired beauty fit so snugly there, tucked into his body with Ichigos protective arm around him. Only partly watching the movie now Ichigo was more focused on memorising how this felt, the heat of the prodigy echoing through the entire right side of his being as they lay on the couch. Ichigo wasn’t even sure when the movie finished, but it did. The credits were rolling and Ichigo frowned, would he have to go home now?

‘You know I could go another movie but you’ll need to get the remote.’ Ichigo offered with a smile in his voice.

‘Don’t want to…’ Toshiro muttered and Ichigo frowned glancing down at the man, would he seriously have to go so soon?

‘Too comfy.’

Ichigo blinked and smiled down at the young prodigy, his voice had been so distant, like he was halfway to falling asleep in his arms and a feeling of protection and adoration coursed through Ichigo in that moment. He wanted nothing more than to lay here all night with the smaller man in his hold but alas it really wasn’t the most comfortable place to sleep or rest, he brought his fingers across the boys waist, intending to move him somewhat so he could lay back more when the boy gasped and sat bold up right, glaring at Ichigo.

‘What?’ Ichigo asked startled, wondering what had happened.

‘Nothing!’ Toshiro quickly said as he tried to twist out of Ichigos arms, his fingers brushed the boys side again and he squirmed.

‘Wait.. Toshiro are you?’ Ichigo poked the boys side tentatively and the boy gasped and tried to leap away. ‘Ticklish! Oh my gosh you’re _ticklish!’_ Ichigo called in delight as he attempted to pull the younger man back to tickle him.

‘No, god no please don’t!’ Toshiro called desperately trying to break free of Ichigos grasp and scamper for the other side of the sofa. Ichigo pinned the boy who squirmed to face him and froze, the two of them just instantly froze. Toshiros heavy breathing was all that could be heard between them as it was apparent Ichigo was holding his again. That same electricity Ichigo felt in the elevator earlier was now tingling between their chests, he could feel it. He had the boy pinned under him, two hands above his head and his legs separated by Ichigos hips. For anyone who may have chosen that moment to walk in the scene was very provocative, however no one would be walking in on them. They were completely alone.

Ichigo watched as Toshiros massive teal eyes flickered between his lips and his eyes and back again as if deciding weather or not to kiss him. Ichigo knew why, if they started he seriously wouldn’t be able to stop this time. It would probably take a hurricane ripping this beautiful complex in two to stop him if he started. Ichigo could already feel his eyes becoming half lidded at the thought of the younger man squirming under him and calling out his name. Toshiro seemed to be having similar thoughts because in one fluid motion the distance between their faces was crossed and Ichigo felt the younger mans soft warm lips pressed against his own.

 

With a growl Ichigo gave in, the animalistic part of him taking over as he began to press himself against the younger man. Their kiss became more heated and eventually Toshiro opened his mouth to grant entrance to Ichigos tongue as he ravished the feeling of his breath entering his own mouth. Toshiros tongue met Ichigos and they danced lightly across each other as Ichigo pulled back nipping at Toshiros lower lip. He began to assault the younger mans jaw line with kisses and nips and Toshiro tilted his head back to allow full access to his neck as he squirmed under him gasping. Ichigo rejoiced in the flesh the boy exposed to him and trailed kisses up and down his neck, stopping to suck a bit and trace his tongue lightly over a particularly sensitive section as Toshiro groaned under him. He felt the younger mans hips buck into his own and Ichigo lowered his waist towards the boy to allow their hips to grind against each other.  

It was hitting the point of no return and Ichigo broke the neck assaulting to pull the smaller man up into his arms. Effortlessly Ichigo rose as Toshiros legs wrapped around his hips, and he lowered one of his hands to grasp at the boys ass, his other supporting the weight of his back as Ichigo stood up. He carried the younger man through to Toshiros bedroom as the white haired beauty assaulted his neck with his lips. Not caring to be careful, Ichigo nearly kicked the damn door to the bedroom down and in an instant Toshiro was pinned down against the bed, the door half closing in their wake. The rooms lighting was just as dim as the living rooms had been and the soft glow from the city lights outside cast shadows that danced across the younger mans features as his teal eyes looked hungrily and somewhat _possessively_ over Ichigo. The look was so thrilling that Ichigo growled pushing the boy further up the bed with a buck of his own hips before straddling him. Toshiros diminutive hands shot up and began to unbutton Ichigos shirt, he got about halfway down when Ichigo pinned the two limbs uselessly above the boys head.

‘I don’t think so,’ he growled in the boys ear. Not quite sure where all this dominatrix styled sexual assurance had come from. ‘Tonight you’re going to become mine and we’re playing by _my_ rules.’ He felt the smaller man shudder under him and carefully cupped his cheek in his hand, running a thumb across the colour that had spread over the boys high cheekbones before leaning down to capture his lips again. The kiss started slowly though Ichigo meant those words he still wanted the younger man to feel cared for. Letting their mouths move against each other, Ichigo pulled the younger boys lower lip into his mouth to run his tongue along it, this earned him a light moan and Ichigo almost froze at the sound. It was so beyond thrilling to know that he had this beautiful creature all to himself and that tonight he would be able to have him moaning under him in pleasure. Letting the lip go before he over did it, he brought his hands up to unbutton the waistcoat and other pieces of attire that were now very much in his way. As he did so his lips made their way back down the boys neck as he titled his head back.

‘Kurosaki- OUCH!’ Ichigo had bitten him, hard.

‘It’s Ichigo.’ He growled once more into the flesh and felt Toshiros teeth grind in frustration. ‘I swear if you plan on calling me by my last name tonight you will be BEGGING for mercy.’ The husky warning fell from horny lips but Ichigo knew his point was clear, he wanted badly to fuck this boy but he wasn’t going to give into him unless he used his first name.

‘I-I don’t-‘ Toshiro started to object but was silenced as Ichigos lips crashed against his once more. His hands had finished removing the buttons of the boys waistcoat and now removed his white tie in two swift actions, tossing it to the end of the bed.

His hands started working their way down the buttons of the lovely icy blue shirt, a lovely shirt that would find itself soon laying in a heap on the floor. Once he got to the last button he tore open the shirt and pulled away from the kiss to let his eyes ravish his partner. Toshiro whimpered when the hot lips removed from his own and Ichigo couldn’t help but hum contently at the sight. The boys two hands were pinned above his head with only one of Ichigos, his face flushed and lips plump and red from the kissing, his eyes were half lidded and full of lust and his entire chest was bare. Ichigo moved his other hand to lightly trace over the well toned smaller body below him, feeling where his muscles dipped and rose again through the pale icy white flesh. Letting go of his partners hands he began to push the rest of the shirt down and off his shoulders as Toshiro rose up to allow the garments to be completely ridded from his body.

‘Fuck Toshiro, you’re so damn hot.’ Ichigo purred as his hands grasped at the boys waist, his thumbs running smooth circles over the muscled flesh of his torso.

‘Your turn.’ The smaller mans husky voice caused Ichigo to shudder involuntary and obliged, easily removing the rest of the buttons and pulling the shirt off his own body. Toshiros eyes widened and his small hands shot up to explore the exposed torso. Against the heat of their bodies and the actions they’d taken so far the boys small hands were cold as they made contact with his flesh and Ichigo flexed his muscles at their touch.

‘ _Fuuuccckkkkk…’_ Toshiro gasped, Ichigo watched those teal eyes closely, they looked wide and in their depths he saw a few startling emotions, lust, shock and was that intimidation? Perhaps, the boys small face seemed to blink and become a little shy looking, pink flushing his cheeks as he groaned and fell back to the bed. ‘How am I meant to compete with all that,’ he gasped waving a hand at Ichigos – more obviously toned – body.

‘This isn’t a competition Toshiro.’ Ichigo cooed to the younger man as he leaned over him, clasping his hands above his head again, Toshiro seemed to hold up no resistance as his eyes still drunk in every movement that Ichigo made and how his muscles flexed to accommodate that movement. Their lips were close again and without the restraints of his shirt his thin silver chain brushed the top of Toshiros chest as it waved between them. Ichigo reached out to the end of the bed with his right hand and pulled the white tie he had disposed of earlier back over. He quickly used it to tie Toshiros hands as the small boys eyes widened in surprise, glancing up to see what he was doing. He squirmed and bucked his hips against Ichigo and the movement caused the older male to grunt. Ichigo left the two limbs tied above the boys head and moved his head down to the top of the boys chest where he began to kiss and lick his way down the smaller torso. Regardless of what Toshiro thought, Ichigo thought the boys smaller build but more subtle muscle definition coupled with the glowing paleness of his skin; was one of the sexiest things he’d ever seen. He continued his assault down his chest and he felt the boy moan as his tongue dipped lightly into his navel. Ichigo slowed his pace as he reached the boys belted trousers and he brought his hands up to remove the offending binding, Toshiro bucked his hips to allow Ichigo to pull the belt out from under him and then he gently unzipped his trousers, all the while his tongue was using the hallow dip between the younger males hip bone and stomach to lightly dip his tongue beyond the waistband of the boys boxers and trousers.

‘Please…’ the boy almost whimpered, aware that Ichigo was purposefully taking his time to tease and taunt him. Ichigo brought his hands up and began to remove the trousers, he could feel the boys painful erection begging to be free of the restrictions but he only succeeded in removing his white work trousers, leaving his light grey boxers in place. Ichigo allowed his eyes the chance to ravish the scene before him. The boy with his hands bound above his head, breathing heavy in his boxers, his cheeks flushed and his teal eyes watching him closely. Ichigo smirked and ran his nose along the fully clothed erection, this small action alone making it twitch.

‘Please… I cant…’ He heard the boy gasp again as Ichigo began kissing the erection through his boxers and Toshiros hips started to thrust gently trying to push his hardened member closer to Ichigos mouth. Ichigo continued his cruel actions for another few minutes before abandoning his captives’ lower region – earning a whimper of objection – and came back up to kiss the boys neck again.

‘Please… I need you… to…’

‘Hmm?’ Ichigo questioned nuzzling into his soon – to – be – lovers’ neck.

‘I need you to…’

‘To what? Speak up?’

‘Touch me!’ Toshiro gasped and Ichigo grinned against his skin as he trailed kisses along the smaller mans collar bone. At this, Ichigo obliged and dipped his hand into the boys boxers gently grasping his erection and using his thumb to smear pre cum across the tip and over the sensitive frenulum. Toshiro bucked his hips against his hand and moaned loudly, his head pressing back into the bed and scattering those beautiful white spikes as Ichigo continued with skilled hands to tease the younger boy. In a few minutes the boys boxers had been removed and Ichigo was kissing his way down the boys slender body once more heading straight to the part that Toshiro wanted more than anything for the man to kiss.

As soon as Ichigo got close however he paused and proceeded instead to kiss up the inside of the boys thighs earning a groan of frustration from the diminutive man. Ichigo couldn’t help but grin, this was torture and he knew it. The longer he pushed the younger man the more turned on he’d be and the more comfortable he’d be too, however leave it too long and-

‘God damnit Kurosaki are you just going to tease me all day?’ Toshiro growled in frustration, the younger man still refused to call him by his first name.

‘When you call me by my first name, I will reward you, how does that sound?’

He heard Toshiro groan and he brought his head up to run his tongue lightly over one of the mans balls, this caused a gasp from him. He clearly had not been expecting that. Ichigo continued his gentle torture of the delicate organ before releasing it and going to the other. This had the smaller man panting heavily he began to beg.

‘Please… please… I need to cum so badly… please…’ he whimpered and Ichigo decided to cool off on the teasing. He brought his head up to run the tip of his tongue gently up the boys entire length once, earning a well deserved moan and feeling the member twitch excitedly with need, as Ichigo did it again this time the twitch jerked it far enough away from Toshiros body that Ichigo was able to engulf it into his own mouth without having to guide it with his hands. Toshiros eyes went wide and he bucked his hips against the strawberry blond as his lips finally assaulted his aching member. Ichigo could taste the pre cum that had been leaking from the tip and hummed lightly around the organ as he allowed his head to bob up and down. Paying more attention to the head and sucking to create a bit of pressure around it he was rewarded with loud moans and light pants from the white haired beauty.

‘Ahh,’ the younger man gasped and Ichigo pulled the limb out of his mouth only to bring his own hand up, Toshiro watched as Ichigo began to lick his own fingers and Ichigo smiled at the confused look that crossed the boys features then realisation dawned in those big beautiful teal eyes. Ichigo leaned back down and took the aching member back into his mouth but at the same time his hand worked its way under the boy and he positioned a finger at his tight entrance. Toshiro rose his hips and spread his legs a little wider as he gasped at the movement Ichigos tongue was making around his head. Ichigo inserted the first finger into the tight hole and heard the boy groan. It didn’t sound too uncomfortable for the prodigy and instead soon Toshiro was bucking his hips against the finger. Ichigo was of course aware that this wasn’t the boys first time but he quickly pushed that from his mind as he took out the first finger and added two. This time Toshiro whimpered a little as Ichigo worked the digits inside him, aiming to stretch him out. The movement coupled with the feeling of being sucked off was pushing the younger male closer to climax.

‘Nnnn…’ Toshiro gasped as he bucked his hips again. This time Ichigo removed his mouth from the leaking erection and rose to capture the boys lips with his own. Toshiro brought his bound hands down between them and was struggling to try and remove Ichigos trousers with bound hands. Ichigo chuckled as he pulled the limbs back above the boys head causing a whimper.

‘Now now, I didn’t give you permission to touch me.’ Ichigo growled against his lips and the boy huffed. ‘What is it that you want?’

‘I want to see you.’ He breathed against Ichigos lips and the older male chuckled, he rolled over and Toshiro lifted his head up, eyes following Ichigos movements as Ichigo began to _very slowly_ remove his own lower clothing. He ditched the garments on the floor and turned to see his little lovers large eyes.

_‘Fuuuck,’_ the prodigy gasped as he rolled over and brought himself up onto his knees with some difficulty – given that his hands were bound – he turned his teal eyes to glare at Ichigo. Slightly taken aback, Ichigo met the glare with a confused look.

‘You’re circumcised too?’ Toshiro grunted as his eyes travelled up and down Ichigos length, Ichigo couldn’t help the little twitches that his erection made from being looked at so possessively by the younger male and simply nodded to him. As this was Ichigos first time the prospect of having an uncircumcised partner never crossed his mind, when he’d seen Toshiro it just looked so normal because he was used to seeing himself but as he watched Toshiro licking his lips it dawned on him that the diminutive prodigy had perhaps only been with uncircumcised men before.

‘That’s why you sucked me off so well.’ Toshiro gasped as he made to turn around and failed and fell on his face a little, the scene would have been rather comical if it were not for the provocative image he now displayed to the older male. His tight ass in the air and before he could compose himself Ichigo was on top of him. Toshiro felt the larger body press him down against the bed as his ass was brushed against by Ichigos weeping member, causing the boy to shudder slightly.

‘Do you have lube?’ Ichigo growled in his ear and Toshiro nodded.

‘Top drawer, your side.’ Ichigo tried not to let the casual use of him having a ‘side’ of the boys bed go to his head as he leaned back and opened the drawer pulling the bottle of lube out from it and moving back to his place. He was going to take this slow of course. He put lube over his fingers and reinserted the two digits back in. Toshiro groaned at the offending digits and Ichigo used a more direct angle this time aiming for something in particular. On his fifth pump he found it and Toshiro gasped, moaning into the bedcovers as Ichigo hit his prostate with the two fingers.

_‘Fuck!’_ The younger boy called, pushing his ass back trying to get Ichigo to hit that same spot again. With a chuckle Ichigo removed his fingers, earning a whimper and this time he added three back in, the boys discomfort replaced by pleasure as he hit that sweet, sweet spot once more. Soon Toshiro was sweating and breathing heavy as Ichigo continued his assault on his prostate, creating an inadequate rhythm that had the boy gasping for more.

‘Tell me what you want,’ Ichigo purred in the boys ear as he leaned over his small body. ‘Tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you.’

‘Fuck… fuck me.’ The boy panted quietly.

‘Hmmm? I can’t hear you.’

‘Nnn… I… need… Nnnn…I need you to fuck me Ichigo!’ The boy groaned and Ichigo smiled, pulling his digits out of the smaller boys ass and applying a decent layer of lube to his own member. Toshiro was gasping on the bed as Ichigo positioned himself at the boys entrance, he began to push in slowly, listening for any noise of pain from the younger boy and kissing every part of his back he could reach. The feeling of his throbbing erection, which hadn’t been given any attention until now, pushing into the tight walls was overwhelming and Ichigo suppressed a shudder of satisfaction as the first waves of pure pleasure washed over him. Below him Toshiro was continuing to pant, his legs shaking as Ichigo helped him support his weight with strong arms around his hips. Toshiro pushed back against the building pressure causing Ichigo to slide in faster and the two men to grunt until Ichigo was completely inside. He stayed there for a while as both men grew accustomed to the feeling and to give Toshiro a chance to get used to the intrusion before he whined.

‘Move,’ he gasped as he attempted to move his own hips himself but Ichigo held him in place before slowly drawing back and thrusting back in. Toshiro gasped and moaned against the sheets of his bed, the sounds muffle slightly by the covers as Ichigo continued to pull out and slide back in carefully. The sensations were overwhelming to feel the boy he’d been so desperately head over heels for now surround his own throbbing erection. Ichigo licked his lips and tried to contain himself, he did not want to cum too soon but wanted this to last. He worked up a steady rhythm and soon the two boys were shaking with need. Toshiros abandoned erection was pressing into the bedcovers, steadying his body with one arm Ichigo reached around the smaller males front and grasped the forgotten limb in his lubbed hand before pumping it in time with his thrusts.

‘Ahhh I-Ichigo… I can’t I’m going to…Nnnnn…’ Toshiro was panting heavily as the new waves of pleasure washed over him and Ichigo bit his lower lip. He just needed to hang on a little longer as his movements became more aggressive and his thrusts quicker.

‘Fuck Ichigo,’ Toshiro groaned and Ichigo spotted the younger male grabbing fists full of bed sheets in his pale little hands as he pressed his face down in the covers to stifle his moans. Ichigo pulled almost all the way out before slamming back in and Toshiro threw his head back and gasped.

‘Nnnn, do that –again!’ He panted and Ichigo obliged, the tip of his head pressing against the younger mans prostate on its way back in pushing the boy over the edge.

‘Fuck Ichigo!’ Toshiro almost screamed as he came hard onto the bed and the walls of his ass tightened and relaxed in waves with his orgasm pressing around Ichigo and with a moan the older male felt himself fill the prodigy up with his own sweet release. They stayed in this position for a while before both boys crashed out, Ichigo falling behind the boy as they both lay panting on the bed. Ichigo reached out and pulled the boy into him for a warm embrace, kissing him full on the lips. He could taste the boys salty sweat on his face as his hands reached up to remove the white tie he had used to bind him.

‘Fuck that was…’ Ichigo muttered against the boys lips.

‘Incredible.’ Toshiro finished as he felt all his limbs slumped and exhaustion wash over him.

 

Ichigo lay awake for a long while after it, stroking Toshiro until he fell asleep. His strokes would start at the boys face and run gently down his neck and across his chest and arms and back again. Somewhere in between all these adoring strokes the younger boy had fallen asleep, his breathing evened out and his eyes fluttering as he dreamed. Ichigo marvelled at the way the moonlight shone over the pale icy skin and startling white hair and couldn’t believe his luck that he’d managed to nab possibly the most beautiful creature in the world. Somewhere inside all his wonderings he too, fell asleep.


	8. Unspoken Challenge

The delicate and richly exuberant world of slumber was slowly being torn away from him. From the distance far off he could hear someone calling his name.

‘Ichi….go…’ There it was again, that distant voice, it sounded familiar and it brought all kinds of intimate flashbacks.

‘Ichigo….Ichigo!’ The voice was getting more desperate and Ichigo wanted to reach out towards the owner of the voice and tell them that it would be okay that everything was going to be fine, that’s when something strangely soft hit his face hard and his eyes snapped open.

‘Damnit Kurosaki we’re late!’ The voice now hissed as Ichigo groaned and rolled over. For a moment he was completely disorientated and couldn’t work out where he was. The pale white walls and large window that was covered by thick satin curtains did not look familiar to him at all. He glanced down at the thin sheet that was covering his naked lower half but left his top half completely bare as he blinked the sleep from his eyes.

‘S’happenin?’ He groaned bringing his hands up to rub at his eyes.

‘You’re not a morning person are you?’ The voice was amused and Ichigos eyes snapped open and he glanced up to see Toshiro, his body already covered in trousers and a plain white shirt as he quickly buttoned it up. Toshiro was eyeing Ichigo hungrily and Ichigo watched as the younger boy bit his lip slowly. With a gulp Ichigo blinked down at himself, and then he remembered the night before.

‘Ah, no I’m not a morning person can’t we call in sick today and just spend all day in bed?’ He groaned laying back down but leaving the covers to fall just above his groin.

‘Hmmm…’ Toshiro was momentarily distracted by the sight and when Ichigo turned to look at him the boys adorable pink cheeks had come back. ‘Ah, I cannot and you’re my employee get out of bed Kurosaki, Rangiku will be wondering where we are. I already have 3 missed calls from her.’

‘What happened to Ichigo?’ He groaned as he pulled the sheets with him looking for his clothes.

‘I tried calling you that and it didn’t work, you only woke up to Kurosaki.’

‘No I believe the pillow to the face woke me up.’  

‘Why are you covering yourself? Don’t tell me you’re embarrassed after last night.’ The cold voice was amused once again and Ichigo smirked as he watched the teal eyes follow him. Clearly the younger man wanted him to drop the thin covering.

‘I’m sorry I only stand naked in front of people who call me by my first name.’

Toshiro narrowed his eyes at him.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes back.

They stood there staring at each other for a few moments as Toshiro fiddled with his cuffs.

‘Ichigo.’ He grunted and the cover fell to the floor.   
Having not expected him to actually do it, Toshiro flushed and let his eyes dance quickly over the older boys morning wood before quickly coming back to his eyes. Ichigo didn’t care he had crossed the space between them as Toshiro began backing up, backing him into the wall. Toshiro gulped as he glanced up timidly into Ichigos amused face.

‘Relax gorgeous.’ He breathed in Toshiros ear as the teal eyes shut Ichigo brought his hands up and quickly fixed the boys cuffs with ease before turning back around to pick up his discarded clothing off the floor of the bedroom. He could feel Toshiros eyes following his movements and knew the boy would be getting a good view as he bent over to pick things up.

Ichigo quickly pulled back on his boxers and same things he’d worn the day before, scowling as he did so. ‘At lunch I’m going straight home to change.’ He hated wearing the same things twice in a row.

‘Yes do it at lunch which at this rate will be in 20 minutes, let’s go.’ Toshiro chided him and the two boys fled the apartment in a rush. Ichigo couldn’t believe how long they’d slept. Memories of the night before were threatening to overcome him, he remembered pulling the boy under the covers with him and snuggling him into his chest as he slept. That memory would have to get him through the morning until he could get home and properly wash and change. The clock was just hitting 11am when they finally came into the office at the same time. No one really thought anything about it but there were a few side glances at the two flushed and hurried bodies as they made their way through the offices and finally into their own.

‘What the hell! Where the hell have you two been I-‘ Ran stopped and studied them for a few moments, then her eyes went wide. _‘Oh. My. God.’_ She hissed at them and Ichigo felt colour flare into his cheeks as he ducked behind his desk. Toshiro glared at Ran and Ichigo wondered what the boy would say.

‘Don’t make this into anything more than it looks, we just fell asleep is all.’

‘At your place?’ Ran asked a grin spreading across her cheeks.

‘And your point being?’ Toshiros voice held the calm and had a way of lowering the temperature of the room.

‘My point being that Ichigo _always_ has a morning shower and changes, he didn’t this time that means he slept over at yours since you arrived together. It also means he didn’t have time to shower at yours which means either you two were busy this morning or were so busy last night you forgot to set an alarm for this morning.’

‘I- Rangiku why can’t you be this diligent with paperwork? Why does it have to be when you’re invading my personal life that you put this much conscious thought into turning over every possible scenario?’ Toshiro had thrown his hands up in the air but it was obvious by the spread of pink that graced the boys high cheekbones that he’d been caught.

Ran smiled triumphantly at him and leaned across the desk glancing between the two of them. ‘So now that you’ve both been on two dates and fucked each other senseless are you official?’

The casual use of their sex act caused Toshiro to whimper in defeat, he threw his arms up and turned to Ichigo.

‘You deal with her, bloody woman.’ He snapped and quickly made a beeline directly for his office, closing the door with a swift snap. Ichigo watched him go, mouth open in protest and then turned back to Ran, whose eyes were twinkling with satisfaction.

‘Damnit Ran don’t push this please,’ Ichigos voice was full of concern, after last night he really had grown more partial to the sexy CEO and he didn’t want anything to get in their way.

‘Alright, alright since you asked so nicely.’ She waved a hand rather melodramatically and Ichigo frowned at it, wondering if she was doing it for a reason when he gasped.

The light caught the expensive diamond and Ichigo almost flew over the top of his desk to get a look at it, spilling stacks of paperwork and sending a coffee cup crashing to the floor in his haste as he bounded over, his heart swelling with happiness as a massive grin spread across Rans features. Ichigo gently took her hand in his to examine the ring, the diamond was a perfect size, not too large but not too small, twisted with platinum into a delicate curved design that flowed easily into the rest of the hoop that bound gently around her finger.

‘Can you believe it? He took me back to the restaurant where we had our first date and-‘

‘What’s all this noise have you two started throwing stuff at each other?’ Toshiros voice sounded a little annoyed and amused as he opened the door, taking a moment to examine the sight before him. Ichigo with Rans hand in his, a smile crossing her lips as she turned to grin at Toshiro. For a moment the boys brows furrowed then recognition dawned on his face and he nodded his approval smiling sheepishly.

‘Congratulations Rangiku,’ he said as he took a step close to them, Ichigo was grinning like a mad man.

‘Ran was just about to tell me the story,’ he urged her on as Toshiro stepped forward pulling a triplet 10x diamond loupe from inside his pocket and taking Rans hand into his own as he looked at the ring. Ichigo almost rolled his eyes, trust this little prodigy to have something like that in his jacket pocket.

‘Leo Diamond, 1.25 carat platinum. It’s perfect.’ Toshiro hummed as he took the lens away from his eyes and gave Ran her hand back.

‘Yes, we were at the restaurant where we had our first date and he was acting strange the whole night. At the end of the meal we were talking about work when the lights in the restaurant dimmed and he got up. He walked over, took my hand got down on one knee it was just perfect.’ Rans eyes were swimming with tears as she recalled the event and Ichigo grinned at her. It was times like this that Ichigo realised just how emotional he was, the girls infections grin was catching onto him and he felt his eyes swim for just a moment.

‘I’m really happy for you two, have you spoke at all about when you will have the wedding?’ Toshiro asked, and Ran shook her head at him.

‘No, we err… were a bit distracted when we got home.’ She laughed as Toshiro shook his head.

‘I love you Rangiku but I do not need to know everything that happens in your personal life unlike you I do not like prying.’ Ichigo watched as Toshiros eyes glanced over to him then back to Ran.

‘Anyway, I’d best run I have a meeting over lunch,’ Toshiro checked his small pocket watch and sighed as he snapped it shut. ‘Congratulations again Rangiku when you have more details do keep us posted.’ Ichigo watched as the younger man made to flee the scene but was stopped with a tight arm wrapping around his waist. Perhaps it was the thought of something so romantic like a wedding but Ichigo couldn’t help himself. Toshiro squirmed as he was pulled closer to the older male.

‘Kurosaki?’ he questioned as Ichigo turned him around and locked lips with the younger boy. For a moment Toshiro tensed then he relaxed into it and wound his hands up into the strawberry spikes. Ichigo could feel the younger boys fingers combing through them and hummed into the kiss. Once they broke away Toshiro was a little breathless, colour spreading across his cheeks as he huffed and quickly fled the scene.

‘You two are fucking adorable.’ Ran said as she smiled over the top of her desk, having witnessed the whole thing. Ichigo ran a hand through the hair at the back of his head as he stooped down to pick up all the fallen items. ‘Are you two official?’ she asked lowering her voice in case a spider in the room might hear her.

‘I don’t know,’ Ichigo paused as he placed papers down on the edge of his desk. ‘I’ve not had a chance to speak to him about that yet.’

‘Alright well let me know when you do-OH! Did you see that the vogue magazine was released this month?’ she asked holding up a magazine, Ichigo quickly crossed back over the room and plucked it from her hands grinning. They had gone with the white suit.

‘Excellent choice,’ he mused as he stared at the bold picture of Toshiro on the front cover, the picture was taken head on and it looked like it hadn’t been a planned shot at all. Toshiro had his hands up, one lazily fixing a cuff while his large teal eyes bore into the camera. The look of being caught off guard was actually really sexy and Ichigo almost shuddered as he recalled scenes from last night.

‘How good does he look?’ Ran asked as she placed her chin on her hand propped up on her elbow and Ichigo nodded.

‘Very good,’ he put the magazine down on top of his desk and opened it up. They usually always did an interview in these things. Ran had already folded down the corner of the page containing the interview and Ichigo read through it. Mostly it was non personal questions about the company about how he feels being so young. Then he read the bit where they had boldly asked if he was seeing anyone. There was no explanation behind his answer just the simple word; ‘No.’ was printed in the tiny font. Ichigo smiled, wondering how he’d answer that question now before shaking his head. He was getting ahead of himself.

‘Well that’s coming up for lunchtime, the gaffa is away so you can duck out early and head home to get changed if you want?’ Ran asked him and Ichigo thanked her, hurriedly getting his stuff he left the office.

 

* * *

 

 

Feeling more refreshed now that he was squeaky clean and changed Ichigo quickly grabbed a sandwich on his way back into the office. He’d gone with a subtle gunmetal grey shirt since he didn’t want people to think only black shirts were all he owned. He was humming away with his headphones in as he stepped back into the office and was faced with quite an unusual scene. With music in his ears he couldn’t hear what was happening but he knew it wasn’t good.

A small girl around the same height as Toshiro with shoulder length black hair and startling dark purple eyes was frantically gesturing to something on Rans desk. Ran herself was standing a deep frown on her face as she watched Toshiro scowl. Ichigo pulled his headphones out of his ears and glanced around at the scene as they turned to see who had walked in.

‘Ah there you are.’ The voice came from the small woman he hadn’t met yet. ‘You two will need to be more careful.’ She held up a paper in front of Ichigos face and he saw a small column with a picture of him and Toshiro heading into Toshiros apartment last night. Ichigos mouth fell open into a small ‘o’ and glanced over to see Toshiro scowling at the floor.

‘Yeah we will, my family don’t even know about me yet.’ Ichigo stated, panic starting to set in, ‘I’d prefer to tell them before they read it in some trashy newspaper.’ Ichigo wrinkled his nose at the paper as if someone had vomited on it. Seriously the thought that someone had thought that he spending the night at the CEOs newsworthy was just downright disgusting. Even though Ichigo was upset about the possibility of his family finding out he was desperate to know what Toshiro thought of this whole incident, his eyes flashed over to the young prodigy.

‘What are your thoughts?’ he asked trying to keep the uncertainty from his own voice as he asked. What if Toshiro called it off now? What if he didn’t want to continue now that they were getting snapped together?

‘I don’t know,’ Toshiro scowled at the floor. ‘What I do know is that I am in the middle of an important deal with a Russian company and we know how touchy things are over there just now regarding this kind of sensitive topic. I think Rukia is right Kurosaki, we’re going to have to be more careful.’ He sighed and ran a hand through those beautiful white spikes of his.

‘I’ve done damage control on this, the story will not spread to other papers I’ve managed to contact someone I am very close too in this paper to double check. The last thing I need is to make too big a deal of this and that will lead people to push further into this situation. They’re just speculating just now anyway and the only reason they give a damn is because you’re Mr Vogue this month.’ Rukia sighed and punched some digits on her phone, her eyes illuminated by the small screen before glancing back up at them all. ‘If we just bide our time I’m most certain all this will blow over as long as we’re careful, once this Vogue issue is behind us we shouldn’t have any issues but if Ichigo is going to be spending time at yours again Toshiro maybe use a driver and go in the back entrance to your complex.’ Toshiro was already nodding in agreement as she spoke.

 

‘Yes you’re right that would have made more sense, I was careless.’ He sighed and leaned against Ichigos desk, his teal eyes distant and far away, his hands taking up residence in his front pockets once again.

‘If they’re going to be waiting outside your apartment Toshiro we could always just head to mine, no one would be expecting to wait for you there.’ Ichigo offered causing Toshiro to blush with the implications.

‘Do whatever you can just for the next month or so until this blows over.’ Rukia lifted her bag up and turned to Ichigo her hard eyes softening. ‘Your family likely wont have heard anything, this is a small newspaper and it wasn’t even on the front cover so don’t worry Ichigo.’ She smiled and then turned to quickly leave.

‘Who was that?’ Ichigo asked watching her leave.

‘Rukia Kuchiki, my publicist.’ Toshiro said as he straightened up his tie. Ichigo watched as he did so with a thoughtful look, his mind going over everything as he contemplated.

‘When were you planning on telling your family Ichigo?’ Ran asked a worried look setting on her beautiful features that made Ichigo feel cared for.

‘Well, I didn’t want to do it over a skype call or anything ya know? Seems like the kind of news I should give in person so I was going to do it when I managed to visit them in the spring.’ He brought a hand up to run it though the back of his hair, ruffling his spikes. The movement helped him relax and he closed his eyes slowly as he did it before tilting his head back.

‘That makes sense, I’d be prepared though for them perhaps finding out before you get the chance to tell them if you two are going to continue to be reckless though.’ She was clearly scolding them in a playful manner, Toshiro scowled at her and Ichigo just smiled calmly.

‘I suppose there’s some truth there.’ He hesitated and turned to Toshiro. ‘Can I have a private word?’ Ichigo watched as Toshiro continued to stare at the floor for a while before nodding silently, pushing himself off of Ichigos desk and heading into his office. Ran didn’t protest, she knew this was a private matter as Ichigo followed him into the office. Toshiro made for his desk but Ichigo ignored the other seat and headed straight towards the couch at the back of the office. The small chibi Thor plushie was perched on the end of the couch and Ichigo comfortably sunk into the soft leather. Toshiro was clearly looking at him, though Ichigo had his eyes closed and his head tilted back to rest against the top of the couch he could feel those teal eyes on his face.

For a long time they just sat in silence. Ichigo with his eyes closed, listening intently to the sound of the cars out on the street below, still feeling Toshiros eyes on him he finally opened his eyes and turned to meet them. The teal gaze seemed to be a bit harder around the edges and the boy was fidgeting with the belt hoop of his trousers as he watched Ichigo closely.

‘What did you want to talk about Kurosaki?’ Toshiro asked his voice tentative and unsure. Ichigo was willing to bet money that the boy was as concerned as he was about where this left the two of them. Toshiro was less likely to discuss his feelings than Ichigo so the older man knew he’d have to take charge here. He opened his arms and gestured for the younger boy to join him. Perhaps a little too quickly Toshiro rose and crossed the room to climb onto the couch and allow himself to be folded into Ichigos arms. Ichigo pulled the boy close against him so that Toshiros head was tucked just below his chin and moulded perfectly into his body. For a while they just lay like this together, not saying anything. Ichigo was studying the delicate breaths that came from the prodigy and running his hand soothingly up and down his arm.

‘I really hate to have to do this Toshiro but I think it’s probably for the best.’ Instantly the younger boy pulled away, his wide teal eyes staring confused and hurt at Ichigo who just chuckled. ‘Sorry, my turn to wind you up, I hate to have to do this, but I may need time off work to go and speak to my family.’ He laughed as the hurt expression turned into a scowl on the boys face.

‘Fuck you that was mean.’ He snarled at the older male and Ichigo just laughed at the incredulous look that had crossed Toshiros features.

‘So how about it boss? Can I get time off to go and see them? I was thinking April time would be best since trying to travel in winter is a nightmare.’

Toshiro was thoughtful for a long time, bringing his hand up to place a finger over his lips thoughtfully, however the movement just drew Ichigos eyes to the boys soft looking lips.

‘I guess that can be arranged.’ He sighed after a long time, waving his hands in defeat. ‘Given that you’ve worked so hard and all.’

‘Thank you,’ Ichigo mumbled still staring at the boys lips. Toshiro watched him and Ichigo could see a smirk appearing on those lips, that same smirk that he’d wanted to kiss away so many times before. That’s exactly what he did, leaning forward he cupped the boys face gently in his hands and pressed his lips tenderly to his own.

The kiss started out slow, just lips pressed against lips then Ichigo began moving his, opening up and closing his mouth and relishing when the boys warm breath crossed the barrier between them. It wasn’t long before Ichigos body had started to tingle at the warm sensations and he moved his arms away from the boys face and down to his waist, pulling him flush against his own body. Toshiro whimpered, his hands snaking up the back of Ichigos neck and locking back into his hair. The strawberry blonds tongue caressed the boys lower lip gently demanding entrance and the young prodigy complied, opening his mouth up to let Ichigos tongue slip in and tenderly nudge his own. Ichigo could feel Toshiro melting in his arms, his usually stiff and uptight mannerisms becoming relaxed all except one. He could feel the boys arousal through his trousers as Ichigo tore his lips away to trail kisses down the jaw of the younger boy.

‘I… thought… we were… meant to be careful?’ Toshiro gasped as Ichigo found the tender spot on the young mans neck and sucked on it lightly.

‘Hmm?’ Ichigo hummed but otherwise ignored the boys question completely.

‘Kurosaki what if someone walks in?’ Toshiro sounded a bit more worried now.

‘They wont, Ran won’t let them, besides if they do, they’ll just see me fucking you across the desk, no big deal.’ Ichigos voice was husky as he said it and it seemed to fuel Toshiro who had began to grind his hips and erection into Ichigos leg.

‘I don’t think… that’d be… a good idea…’ Toshiro was losing a battle, he said the words but they didn’t sound at all convincing, like he was trying to convince himself more than anything else. Ichigo decided to play along and pulled his lips away from their current place on the boys neck.

‘Yeah you’re probably right, never mind then.’ Ichigo tried to keep the husky sounds from his voice as he watched Toshiros eyes go wide.

‘What?’

‘You said it wasn’t a good idea, several times so I should listen to you, you’re my boss after all.’ Ichigo pointed out, enjoying the horrified look on the younger mans face.

‘Wait I… didn’t…’ Toshiro seemed to be trying to remember a time he’d say something so stupid and it took all of Ichigos self control not to laugh at the look on his face.

‘Yes you did, anyway I only came in to ask about holidays.’ Ichigo stood up now brushing himself down as he made to leave.

‘Kurosaki.’ Toshiros voice was almost dangerous now, carrying a warning in it as Ichigo faltered and turned to look at him. ‘Are you seriously going to turn me on and walk away?’ There was a challenge there, the amusement was gone but it was laced with a husky warning. Ichigo grinned at the boy and shrugged his shoulders.

‘Just remember it was you who said it wasn’t a good idea, don’t go blaming me.’ With that Ichigo opened the office door and left the incredibly sexy and turned on CEO behind.


	9. White Rose

Toshiro was avoiding him.

 

That much was clear. True it had only been 2 days since the event that had taken place on the couch in the CEO’s office but it was still 2 days. For 2 days Toshiro had barely looked at him, barely acknowledged him, not replied to any of his texts and been completely unavailable. It was getting to the point now that even Ran was worried and that just made Ichigo more upset.

 

‘Look this Russian deal is huge, he can’t talk about it to anyone but I know it’s a make or break thing for two major film production companies here in the USA and Russia. He’s probably stressed is all.’ Ran said, but her own words seemed full of uncertainty and like she was trying to convince herself. ‘Has Rukia said anything to you Renji?’ Ran turned to the red haired man who sighed and rubbed his forehead.

‘No, she doesn’t talk about any personal work related issues when she’s at home.’ It would have been really interesting for Ichigo to learn that Renji was dating Toshiros publicist if it weren’t for the fact he was so caught up in his own personal issues with the white haired prodigy. ‘Maybe he’s doing this until you crack, he doesn’t like losing challenges or maybe you just did it at the wrong time.’ Renji said.

The three friends were sat at a café just around the corner from where Renji worked, he owned a gallery and that was actually how they’d met Toshiro. He’d been invited to do some investments for them and when he and Rukia got talking they’d exchanged numbers for a possible job proposition. It wasn’t until Renji met Ran that the man had grown closer to Toshiro and rather fond of him.

‘Maybe I did,’ Ichigo groaned and put his head into his arms on the table where his food lay uneaten. He couldn’t understand it, Toshiro had sounded more playful than angry after the whole couch related incident and he was sure the CEO wasn’t really upset with him. So why then every time Ichigo tried to grab him, he had an important meeting or a phone call? Why was he opening texts and having them marked with a stupid little _‘read’_ sign and not replying to them? What was going on?

‘Look speculating isn’t going to help the matter, you’re going to have to just confront him.’ Renji said, picking up his cola and taking a long drink from it.

‘Don’t you think I’ve tried?’ Ichigo frowned, lifting his head up to look at the pair of them. ‘I’ve tried to grab him at work but he’s always making up excuses or he’s just busy.’

‘Maybe it’s time to play cold and unreachable yourself?’ Renji offered but even as he said it both Ran and Ichigo were shaking their heads.

‘No I don’t want him to think I’m taking a huff with him and besides…’ Ichigo recalled the day they’d spent walking along the beach and the things Toshiro had told him. ‘I don’t want him thinking I was just in it for the sex and since I got it I am taking off, because that’s not what I want.’

Ran was nodding along with Ichigo, ‘remember Renji we tried to give Toshiro space before and he just ended up alienating himself further from us, then Ichigo comes over and melts some of those cold walls down, we should do this through love and support not being cold and harsh.’

‘Yeah you’re right.’ Renji replied and all of them were thoughtfully silent for a long time, taking the occasional drink and staring off in different directions.

‘Has he text you at all Ran?’ Ichigo finally asked and she shook her head.

‘I don’t want it to seem like we’ve been talking about him behind his back so I’m pretending to not know, I text him about fifteen minutes ago though asking about those papers and if he got them signed off in time. I’m hoping he’ll come to me,’ as she said those words her phone chimed and they all glanced at the small screen on the table.

‘Speak of the devil.’ Renji breathed and Ichigo held his breath as Ran lifted and unlocked her phone reading the message.

‘What does it say?’ Ichigo asked, he couldn’t help himself, he was so impatient. His heart seemed to have skipped when the phone went off and it wasn’t even for him.

Ran was frowning at the tiny little screen for a while before she replied. ‘He said he signed the papers but he would like to see me if I’m free after work tonight.’

 

* * *

 

 

XxXxX Toshiros POV XxXxX

 

 

There were coils wrapping themselves like steel beams around his chest making it difficult to breathe and making him feel sick. This Russian deal was slipping through his fingers. He pressed his forehead against the digits on top of his desk as if hoping that applying enough force would push really clever ideas out the back of his head.

He knew he was grumbling under his breath, it was something he did when he’d had lack of sleep and a lot of pressure applied to his young brain. With a huff he sat back on his chair and glared at the monitor of his laptop, he knew if he could go and see them in person he’d be a lot more convincing, these emails and mediocre translated calls were getting him nowhere.

He slammed the laptop cover down a little harsher than he meant to as he stood up to walk over to the window. He glared down at the streets below and sighed deeply. The stress had not been helped by his run in with Kusaka a couple of nights ago. He’d gotten some rather bad news late at night regarding the deal and not wanting to wake Ichigo or Rangiku he’d made his way to the bar. He’d intended only to have a drink because it wasn’t one of Kusakas nights to work, but he was there. Overtime apparently and Toshiro was still scowling at the memory.

 

 

_Flashback_

_The bars low lighting was exactly what he needed right now, the feeling of isolation and the dull background thumping from the club that was on the ground level. The bar was always the best place for the young genius to come and sitting at the bar he was pushing back an assortment of whiskies on the rocks._

_Clearly someone in the bar must have alerted Kusaka to Toshiros arrival because the stripper had come up from the club and drawled in his ear._

_‘Hey handsome,’ the voice said, causing an involuntary shiver down the young boys spine._

_‘I thought you didn’t work Tuesday nights.’ Toshiro replied, working to keep his usual cold hard edge to his voice._

_‘I’ve not seen you in a while pet where have you been?’ Kusaka asked completely ignoring what he’d said._

_‘Busy.’ Toshiro said the word and made to turn away from the older man, Kusaka was having none of it. He placed his two hands on the twisting stool and turned it around sharply so that Toshiro was facing him, nuzzling his hips in between the young prodigy’s legs. Toshiro tried his best to glare at the glittery exposed body. Kusaka was trying to push his bare chest toward Toshiro for a reaction, bringing their faces closer together and causing Toshiro to scowl. He clearly thought that Toshiro was still attracted to him but his body held no comparison to his new sexy assistant Kurosaki. He kept that thought in mind as he tried to jerk his head back and away from the older man, trying his best not to breathe in the smell of sweat from him._

_‘You’ve never been too busy to visit me before, or have you forgotten.’ Kusaka leaned in and drawled in Toshiros ear. Two hands quickly came up between them and Toshiro tried to push the larger man away._

_‘Kusaka get off, I’m seeing someone.’ Toshiro quickly said when Kusaka came closer once again. The older man froze and pulled back to look at Toshiro._

_‘Since when?’ his voice almost snarled and the younger man flinched._

_‘Since none of your business that’s when.’ Toshiro was still trying to push the man away from him, he just wanted to be left alone._

_‘What you expect me to believe that when less than two weeks ago you were in that back alleyway with your tongue down my throat and grinding your hips against mind like you’d never had sex before?’ The words cut Toshiro when he remembered the need he’d felt that night to just feel something._

_‘Just leave me alone Kusaka.’_

_‘Oh you’re being serious? Ha, I bet he can’t fill you the way I can.’ Kusaka was attempting to grind his hips against Toshiro who was now squirming with unease._

_‘He’s much more of a gentleman than you are.’ Toshiro was now attempting to kick the older man away but he just nuzzled his way in between his legs again and Toshiro growled at him._

_‘Is he now? What? You two not had sex yet? That surprises me a little slut like you would normally always be gagging to feel close to someone.’ Clearly something on Toshiros face gave it away, weather it was the alcohol consumption or the heavily perfumed scent mixed with sweat from the man that made his head swirl but Toshiro couldn’t hold up his icy demeanour. ‘Oh? What’s this? You have had sex with him? Haven’t you?’ Kusaka threw back his head and laughed, the sound wasn’t pleasant. It wasn’t an amused laugh. It was actually a really scary laugh, the laugh of someone who had lost something close to them and was about to kill the person they thought were responsible. It was a resonating, spine chilling, possessive laugh. ‘Poor little Hitsugaya. Always getting himself fucked but never actually getting himself loved. So typical of you to put out so soon, how will anyone respect you if that’s all that’s on your mind?’ Kusakas hand was running up the younger mans thighs towards his groin and Toshiro tried to push it away._

_‘He’s not like that, it did mean something.’ Toshiro was trying to recall the memory of the night, why he felt the need to justify it or stand up for himself with this puerile creature was beyond him at this point. He’d clearly drunk way more than he should have._

_‘Is that what he told you? You believed him?’ The smirk was clear in the dimly lit bar and the two of them were now starting to gather side glances from on lookers. ‘You’re nothing but a little whore who no one will ever want anything other than sex and money from, so why bother denying it? At least I’m honest that’s what I want from you. You’re a fucking sexy man Mr Hitsugaya and you’ve got one of the tightest little asses of anyone I’ve ever fucked.’ As if to emphasise his point Toshiro felt a large hand clamp the back of his ass and lower side of his back as he sat on the backless stool._

_‘Is there a problem here?’ The bar manager had come out and was glaring at Kusaka, ‘stripers are meant to be downstairs in the bar please return.’ He instructed and Kusaka clicked his tongue impatiently._

_‘Fine,’ he turned back to Toshiro before he left and a wicked smile spread across his face. ‘When he leaves you broken and in pieces I’ll always be here to fuck you whenever you want me to pet.’ He turned and exited the bar and Toshiro felt sick and violated. He didn’t exactly have any family he could call to come and get him so instead he thanked the manager, added his recently unfinished drink onto his tab and quickly exited the building. Hailing the first Taxi he could he tried his best to hold himself together until he got home._

_Once his door was closed and the night was shut outside he headed straight for bed and worked as hard as he could to keep his stoic demeanour, it was taking all he had not to break back down crying._

_End of Flashback_

 

* * *

 

He’d been stupid to sleep with Kurosaki so quickly; of course the man would think he would now be able to get sex whenever he wanted. He’d done this by teasing and testing him right from the beginning because he’d been so damn attracted to the strawberry haired beauty. Toshiro was now rubbing his eyes with his thumb and index finger of his right hand. It was true he was just a whore, just a slut and no one would ever want him for anything more than his ability to put out or his money. He accepted this, so why then did it leave him feeling like his heart weighed a tonne?

Without really thinking he’d picked up his phone and text backed Rangiku who had messaged him earlier, he knew she’d talk some sense into him. He’d been avoiding Ichigo ever since that night with Kusaka, he didn’t really feel like talking about it to the man, he didn’t want to seem weak and feeble, that was not the image that a strong CEO of Hitsugaya Industries should be portraying. However there was one person he didn’t mind letting guard down around and that was the other strawberry blond. He sent the text asking if he could speak to her that night.

 

* * *

 

 

The doorbell rang and Toshiro worked his way off his couch to head over and yank the door open. Rangiku stood there with a smile plastered on her caring face a bottle of wine in hand, she was dressed in a pair of comfortable jeans and baggy jumper that clearly belonged to Gin. He smiled ruefully at her aware this would probably be a rather long evening for the two of them.

He stood back and let her walk in. He’d taken his thin sheet of his bedcovers with him and they were draped lazily over his shoulders, his shirt was loosely unbuttoned and tie had long since been discarded along with his belt. Even though he was still wearing work stuff this was his way of dressing down after work. It often was accompanied with the removal of socks because he hated his feet being confined when there were cold tiles to enjoy. He’d never quite made it that far tonight though and instead tried to busy himself by finding appropriate Rangiku sized glasses for the wine.

‘How have you been, or is that a stupid question?’ Rangiku started and Toshiro breathed out shakily as he placed two glasses down on the bar. She opened the wine and began pouring.

‘Not a stupid question no. Just this deal has me stressed.’ He rubbed his eyes again, he’d fallen asleep on his couch the evening before and it wasn’t the most comfortable sleep he’d endured.

‘You look exhausted Toshiro but I’ve seen you stressed before and this isn’t just work stress.’ Rangiku pushed a glass towards him. ‘So start talking.’ He took the glass gratefully, next to Whisky this was his favourite second liquor to endure. He knew Rangiku hated whiskey so anytime they drank together it would usually be with a bottle of red wine, sometimes champagne. The taste of the red liquid reminded him so much of her presence that he started to feel warmer after just the first sip.

‘I-‘ he sighed and stared out the window. She didn’t push him and instead just studied his face for a few minutes that they had of silence. He could feel her blue eyes staring at him in a caring way that only she ever did. ‘I ran into Kusaka.’

As soon as he said it he felt her tense and he turned to look at her. She’d taken a mouthful of the wine and swallowed it hard, her eyes still watching, waiting for him to continue. ‘He errr… ran into me at the bar, he normally doesn’t work Tuesdays I just wanted a drink after all this deal stuff started going wrong.’ He mumbled, he knew he wasn’t really meant to be talking about it but Rangiku didn’t count. He continued to recite all that had happened that night, the stuff he could coherently remember and the stuff that was a bit fuzzy. He forgot how good this felt, to speak to someone about what was on your mind and with Rangiku he never felt judged by her, she only cared about him and it was one of the reasons he kept her around despite her being so incredibly lousy at paperwork. She was an incredibly study rock for him to lean on from time to time but recently he felt like he’d been swept out to sea and away from her.

‘Oh Toshiro,’ she said in a voice so filled with understanding that made him shuffle a little closer to her. Somewhere during the story they had made their way over to his couch for a more comfortable place to sit, the half empty bottle of wine sitting on the table in front of them as they were turned to face each other. ‘Do you really believe anything that asshole said to you?’

Toshiro didn’t know how to respond so he didn’t say anything, just remained silent staring into the dark corner of the room.

‘I know Ichigo, we’ve become good friends and he’s not that kind of man. I know you guys went a bit fast but has it ever occurred to you that you can have it both ways?’

Toshiro threw her a wide teal eyed gaze. ‘What do you mean?’

She was smiling now which was a good sign, it was nice to see some normality in amongst all this chaos he was feeling.

‘Ichigo was drooling over you the moment you two met, of course he was look at you.’ She gestured at him with a wave of her eloquent hand and Toshiro fought back a modest blush. ‘He’s been lusting after you yes but he wants more too I know that from the way he speaks of you. Why can’t your relationship contain the hot passionate needy sex from early on _and_ the emotional attachment? Ichigo wants it so the question is, do you?’ She placed her hand under her chin and leaned in towards Toshiro. The young man was left stunned by her words and he sat back to ponder them, drawing the thin sheet further around himself like a comfort blanket.

So Ichigo had been telling Rangiku about wanting to have more with him? The prospect was uplifting but at the same time, Toshiro felt like he had no time to let someone in, to let himself be loved. He was so full of stress and uncertainty and though he’d never voice it to anyone he was very insecure. Not when it came to his intelligence or ability to dress well but when it came to emotions he was, he didn’t want to end up needy and overly attached, he was scared someone else would suffocate him, he was scared they’d leave him when he needed them most, he was scared of a lot of things. He must have absentmindedly been drawing the cover more over his small body as he contemplated because he soon found the fabric cutting off the circulation in his arm as he bound the thin fabric tightly around and around it. He sighed and let the covering go so it wouldn’t cause any damage. The silence was comfortable and Rangiku was in no hurry for him to respond, instead she was happily sipping her wine and letting his digest all the information.

‘He’s very attractive.’ Toshiro mumbled, he hadn’t even been aware he’d instructed his mouth to move but now that the words were out he knew from the questioning glances that he’d have to explain himself. ‘I mean…’ he sighed deeply, ‘he’s very attractive in a daunting kind of way.’

‘You’re attractive too Toshiro and I know he’s attracted to you.’ She frowned at him not fully understanding.

‘Yeah but he’s like,’ Toshiro flailed his arms and the covers flew off him causing Rangiku to purse her lips in amusement. ‘Like… _really_ attractive.’ He finished as if hoping she’d understand.

‘You mean he has a big coc-‘

‘No! Rangiku,’ Toshiro scowled at her, ‘I mean like, he works out, a lot and I’m like.’ He looked around the room, ‘mediocre at best.’

‘You’re anything but mediocre, besides Ichigo is the kind of guy that when there’s an emotion attachment there he finds them way sexier. Believe me I’ve seen the way he’s spoken about you especially after that Vogue shoot and after the other night.’

‘Oh.’ Toshiro recalled the night they’d had sex at the time he’d been so full of lust to really understand the mountain of differences between their bodies. Ichigo was older, taller more well built. He had big arms that felt so good to have wrapped around you and his smooth tanned skin boasted a not so humble six pack. Toshiro could also remember the sexy V muscle that lead down towards the mans groin. The thought about him made his throat dry. However he could also remember what Ichigo had said to him, he’d called him beautiful too, perhaps in a different way not quite the rugged sexual way that Ichigo himself was but in his own way.

‘I think you’re over thinking that side of things, I think you’re just clutching at straws now.’ She boldly offered and he let out a shaky breath. Rangiku was right, so what if Ichigo was very attractive? That didn’t make him second best or anything, there was a lot of things he could provide Ichigo with if the damn Strawberry blond would let him. ‘The two of you could be good together Toshiro if you’d just open up and let him in more, I think you’d find he’d completely melt you down from the inside. I think you know that and I think _that_ scares you more than anything else.’

Toshiro frowned, drawing the covers back up and around his small body. She was right of course and the thought of letting the strawberry blond get close to him was terrifying.

‘What if he hurts me.’ Toshiro felt himself mumble pathetically.

‘He won’t do that because he’d find himself with his favourite appendage, I warned him from the start besides, as a good friend of his I can comfortably tell you that’s not his style.’

The two of them sat in silence, they both knew that Toshiros restraints wouldn’t come down so easily, that he wouldn’t invite Kurosaki over for tea and hair braiding and speak all about their feelings for a full night. This would take time. In saying that, it had not taken Kurosaki long to break down his first lot of barriers which lead to their first sexual encounter. He couldn’t help it, the moment he’d seen that picture on the mans phone on the way to the Vogue shoot, he knew he wanted to see it for himself. The silence was broken by the doorbell and Toshiro looked around at it like it was on fire. He wasn’t expecting anyone, he stood up and walked towards the door Rangiku standing too to glance curiously over to see who it was. When he answered it, in the doorway stood a delivery man.

‘For Mr Hitsugaya?’ The young man asked, clearly not having read the sign on the door properly, Toshiro nodded and received a long wooden box. He frowned at it as the boy made his way back towards the staircase. Closing the door he took the box over to his kitchen bar and opened it. The dark wood on the inside was laced with red velvet fabric and inside sat a beautifully perfect and full singular white rose. Toshiro felt his eyes go wide and he picked up the small card on the inside.

_‘You know where I am if you need me, thought white would match your hair. Ichigo x’_

Rangiku had come up to look over his shoulder and he could feel her smile.

‘Still think he’s just in it for the sex?’

Toshiro flushed and placed the card back down in the box, he actually didn’t know what to say. This was the first time he’d ever been given a rose in his life. He wasn’t even sure what to do with it. Thankfully Rangiku was there to help and they set about filling a tall drinking glass with water to place it in.

‘You don’t need to make a decision right away, you’ve got a lot of stuff on but please do me a favour and take time to unwind.’ She sounded worried again, concern laced in her voice as she spoke. The two of them were sitting back on the couch looking at the stunning white rose that now stood proudly in the centre of the table. ‘How about you come to mine this weekend for games and a couple of movies? Renji and Ichigo will be there, it will be a chance for you to wind down and let Ichigo know how you’ve been feeling all in a secure environment away from the office.’ Toshiro was thoughtful as he stared at the delicate rose in the middle of the table. Wind down time was exactly what he needed right now.

‘Alright.’


	10. When Prodigies Play

Pushing another stack of papers to the edge of his desk Ichigo paused only for a few short minutes to rub his tired eyes. He still hadn’t slept and Rans constant gibbering to try and get him to cheer up hadn’t really been making him feel better. She hadn’t told him all the details of her night with Toshiro because she didn’t want to betray the prodigy’s trust but she had winked at Ichigo and told him to relax.

 

It was easier said than done though and even as he pumped out report after report and bounded from their office to the mailroom he still couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d done something wrong. Had he done something to upset Toshiro? It was Friday and the white haired beauty wasn’t in the office today, he had to go and meet a consultant from Russia somewhere else in New York and had taken some of his associates with him, but not his assistants. Ran knew she was on speed dial should the CEO need her but so far the pair had heard nothing from him. Without being able to talk to Toshiro himself, Ichigo was left trying to push all possible blame and ill feeling to the back of his mind by churning out as many reports as he possibly could.

 

‘Nearly finishing time,’ Ran chimed, sounding happy and exuberant as she started a very slow process of tidying up her desk. Rans idea of ‘nearly finishing time’ was around 20 minutes before they were actually due to finish. However she had mastered the skills required to draw out the process of tidying up her desk and powering down her computer to a point where it took exactly 18 minutes or more. Ichigo smiled sadly at her actions and he could feel her baby blue eyes on him. ‘What are you doing tonight?’

‘Eh,’ Ichigo thought about it, likely he was going to go straight to the gym and workout as he had done pretty much every single night since he and Toshiro had stopped speaking. It helped to keep his mind busy and he could do that at the gym, he’d stay for at least 2 hours before taking off back home, ‘maybe going to the gym.’ He shrugged his shoulders and looked over to her.

She didn’t seem to like his answer as she stared at him with her arms slung lazily over the top of her two toned modular desk. Ichigo was about to ask what she was doing when she held up a hand to silence him and brought her phone to her ear.

‘Hey Handsome,’ she purred down the phone and Ichigo shuffled about moving papers again not wanting to over hear her conversation with her fiancé but also he found it very difficult to shut out. ‘Can we have a guest stay the night tonight?’

Ichigos head snapped up so fast he swore and brought a hand up to massage the back of it where he was sure he’d twisted a muscle. He studied her face for a long moment, she was grinning down the phone and then he heard her let out a low throaty chuckle. ‘I accept the terms of our agreement,’ there was another pause, ‘it’s Ichigo.’ She smiled and waved a hand over towards him. Ichigo just blinked stupidly at her but didn’t interrupt. ‘Yeah I know he really wants to see you too, think he might like you more than I do.’

Ichigo laughed, he’d met Gin once before when he’d gone over to Rans house for early morning video games on a Saturday. Gin couldn’t join them though he had to rush out the door, the exchange was fleeting but Gin had embraced him as if they were brothers. He’d instantly taken a liking to the man, even more so now that he and Ran were engaged and she was euphoric.

Once she hung up her phone she gathered her things and motioned for him to follow. ‘Right you, I’ll drive by your place first you can grab all the stuff you need, then we’re going to get alcohol and then we’re going to go to mine and get drunk and sleep. How does that sound?’ He nodded, spending an evening with Ran and Gin sounded like way more fun than going to the gym and moping around his apartment on his own.

 

The drive was pleasant and they mostly spoke about work, avoiding the less sensitive subjects and simply discussing who in the office was dating who.

‘Noooo!’ Ichigo never really enjoyed gossip but he found he didn’t mind it so much when it was with Rangiku.

‘Yes, she is I promise, I knew it the moment I saw her, come on Ichigo your gaydar is meant to be better than mine, anyway she finally asked her out.’

‘So Soi Fon and Yoruichi?’ Ichigo asked as he sat back in the car seat staring out the windows with shock, ‘wow like, how did that even? Wow.’

‘Yeah right? They had some gentle encouragement though I knew Soi Fon wouldn’t actually say anything herself so I helped her out a little.’ 

Ichigo laughed as Ran spoke, telling him that she had tricked the younger girl into inviting Yoruichi out on a date without really meaning too but went along with it when the older woman agreed. A few days later they had come into the office almost in the same state that Ichigo and Toshiro had at the beginning of that week.

When Ran pulled up at his apartment Ichigo just took a few minutes to shove clothes and grooming products into a black bag before turning to leave, he paused and turned back to look at the table between the couch and the TV. He’d left a game there that he had bought for him, Renji and Ran to all play and he grinned to himself as he doubled back to grab it and take it with him.

 

* * *

 

 

Gin was as welcoming as ever, throwing open the door with his usual wide grin, catching Ran with ease as she fell into his arms and gave him an enthusiastic kiss. Ichigo tried not to stare, he was so happy for the couple but he had to admit that the sight made him feel a little jealous.

‘Ichigo!’ Gin called pulling him in for a tight hug as Ichigo crossed over the threshold; Ichigo chuckled into the embrace but gave it back gladly. The door was closed and the party was moved into the living room. The night was light and helped Ichigo forget the struggles of the week. He didn’t feel like a third wheel at all as Ran sat on the sofa beside him and Gin sat on the floor on the other side of the little glass coffee table. He was almost sprawled out lazily, completely at ease on the comfortable plush carpet as they spoke.

Naturally Ran must have told Gin everything that was going on between Toshiro and him but if she had he never raised it and never brought anything up which Ichigo was thankful for. Every now and again though he felt like the couple were keeping a secret from him and they exchanged knowing glances when Toshiros name finally did come up.

‘… Toshiro was just heading back in when I dropped off the last of the paperwork to Kenny in the mailroom.’ Ichigo finished his sentence thoughtfully as he took another deep drink of his cold beer. He’d discarded the tie he had been wearing and had popped the top buttons of his light grey shirt as he spotted the look between them. ‘What?’

‘Nothing,’ Ran said a little too quickly a smile gracing her features as Ichigo pouted at her.

‘You’re keeping something from me.’ He frowned at her and she pursed her lips in amusement at him. ‘Daaaaaaaaddd…’ he groaned turning to Gin for help who just turned to Ran with a partly amused and partly scolding look on his face.

‘Now Ran, are you keeping something from Ichigo?’ He said, his voice was stern but held a bit of warning in it.

‘Noooo….’ She blinked innocently.

‘Yes she is.’

‘No I’m not.’

‘Alright kids that’s enough,’ this exchange continued for a little while and ended with Ran tossing a pillow at Gin who ducked out of the way. Apparently telling her she was heading the right way for a spanking was going too far in front of guests. Ichigo couldn’t help but laugh at their casual display though it brought back a nice sense of normality into his life.

The night mostly continued with soft banter, Ichigo found out that Gin was a co owner of ‘Snake Eyes’ which was one of the hottest casinos on Rockaway Boulevard. Between his job and Rans’ job they had no problem keeping their luxury townhouse apartment. The entire place was huge and almost open plan once you got up the front steps. The Living room was long and in lush colours of beige and white. There was a long corner sofa that faced off towards a massive TV that took up much of the room at the front end, behind the large sofa the rest of the living room boasted a large bookcase (mostly for Gins benefit) and at the far end a door led to Gins own personal office for when he wanted to work from home.

Sometime after 2am Ichigo was led to one of the couples spare rooms and left to change and sleep in peace. Not feeling comfortable sleeping nude at someone else’s home (with the exception being just after sex) Ichigo put on a pair of pajama trousers and made his way to bed and crashed out almost as soon as his head hit the pillow, the combination of alcohol and the long day finally getting the better of him. 

 

He woke the next morning groggy but feeling like he’d slept better than he had done since he stayed at Toshiros. Toshiro… that name raised a lump in his throat. Ran still hadn’t fully told him if the young prodigy liked his gift or not, she’d merely giggled and winked which he thought meant it was good news, but he just wished the damn woman would tell him.

He rose and brushed away any traces of beer still left over in his mouth in the small en suit bathroom to his room. Without really feeling the need to put a top on he ducked out of the room and headed off to find Ran. He was going to confront her and finally ask about the rose, this time he wanted words as his response not giggles. The sound of shooting and muffled voices drew his interest and he walked down the hall towards the living room expecting to find only Gin and Ran inside. When he crossed under the archway though he was greeted by a sight he never thought he’d see.

Renji was sat on the floor of the plush carpet wearing a baggy grey hoodie and navy sweatpants as he furiously pushed buttons on the black controller in his hand. Ran was sprawled across the shorter side of the corner sofa with one of Gins large baggy t shirts on and a pair of comfortable black leggings covering her lower half, she too had a controller in hand and was lazily attempting to look partially enthusiastic. Where the sight really startled him however, was the white spikes and smaller figure curled up on the furthest edge of sofa, the side closest to Ichigo. Wearing an overgrown light grey jumper with the long arms pushed back over his small hands, his legs crossed under a thin white throw that had been tossed lazily over them… was Toshiro.

‘Toshiro?!’ Ichigo gasped, drawing the attention of everyone in the room as he stood staring at the young prodigy.

‘Jesus Ichigo put a damn shirt on those pecks could hurt someone.’ Renjis voice sounded from the floor while Ran gasped.

The young white haired prodigy turned to briefly look at him but quickly glanced away again, colour springing to his small cheeks.

‘Hello Kurosaki.’ He breathed and Ichigo felt his insides stir at his voice.

‘My, my Ichigo that’s quite the physic you have there, if I wasn’t attracted to women I’d certainly be attracted to you.’ Gins voice came from the direction of the kitchen and Ichigo turned towards him blushing furiously and suddenly cursing himself for being topless.

‘I thought it was just the two of you home, sorry I’ll go change.’ He mumbled but he heard Ran pine from the corner.

‘Oh my god Ichigo is that what you’ve been hiding under those shirts, Toshiro you lucky bastard.’ Ichigo glanced quickly at the younger man whose face was now a brilliant shade of red.

‘Rangiku,’ his voice was low and warning her as he paused his controller to try and compose himself.

Ichigo was feeling incredibly uncomfortable now and quickly ducked back out of the room to go and throw a shirt on. After successfully completing this miniscule task he hastened back to the living room stopping, only briefly, to check his reflection in the mirror first. Double checking his spikes he was somewhat satisfied that he at least didn’t look a mess before making his way back into the front room where they were all playing games.

Gin was in the process of handing everyone out some coffee and breakfast rolls of sausages and bacon wearing a frilly pink apron that Ichigo was sure belonged to Rangiku. Ichigo took one of the mugs of coffee, he normally didn’t drink the stuff but he felt like he needed something to make his mind more alert right now. The only place for him to sit was either on the floor beside Renji or on the sofa between Toshiro and Ran. The sofa was long enough that he wouldn’t be touching either of them without stretching his arms all the way out so he choose the latter option, not wanting it to come across as if he were completely avoiding the young prodigy. Slumping down on the sofa and placing his coffee cup on a coaster on the table he observed the game they were playing for a while. He refused to look at Toshiro and he could tell Ran and Renji were trying to keep up a string of game commentary to stop any awkward silences from appearing. Ichigo felt really nervous all of a sudden and he didn’t know why. Toshiros screen was still paused and he seemed to be watching the other two play for a while.

‘Yo Shiro what’s up? Man we need you, this one’s useless.’ He indicated his head at Ran and Ichigo bit his lip to stop himself from laughing at the adorable nickname.

‘It’s Hitsugaya Renji I’ve told you before.’

‘And I’ve ignored you before, c’mon lets play.’

Toshiro quickly picked up his controller and Ichigo swore if he’d been counting in his head he wouldn’t even have reached 5 seconds before Toshiro killed Renji with ease.

‘HEY! What gives Shiro?’

‘When you call me Shiro I will kill you, it’s simple.’ Ichigo felt safe now to glance over at the younger man as he spoke. His face seemed to have relaxed and the colour was gone from it but there was a glint in his eyes. One Ichigo had not seen since they’d gone to the arcade, he was enjoying this.

‘Not this time you wont,’ Renji managed to get one shot in before Toshiros character slipped effortlessly behind cover, re-emerging behind Renji’s and taking him out once more in a sea of bullets, ‘you bastard.’

‘Not bastard. Hitsugaya.’ The prodigy corrected him. The jumper that he wore was so long and baggy on him that he had to keep pushing the sleeves up to stop them falling over his thumbs as he played and Ichigo noticed from this better angle the way that the neck of the jumper slipped delicately over one of his shoulders, exposing quite a lot of his luscious neck.

‘Staring is rude.’

Ichigo felt colour flourish in his cheeks and his head quickly snapped back to the TV. He wasn’t sure how long Toshiro had been aware of him starting at the younger boy but now that he thought about it he’d been looking way longer than he should have been.

‘Staring is perfectly acceptable if you have a face like yours or a body like Ichigos.’ Ran said as she shot Toshiro and actually killed him, raising a fist into the air with glee. ‘GIN! I GOT TOSHIRO!’ She called and Gin entered back into the living room pushing toast onto Ichigos lap as he made his way over to sit with Ran.

‘Well done beautiful I’m very proud of you.’ He gave her a fleeting kiss and shoved a new cup of coffee into her free hand.

‘You must be good if she feels the need to gloat this much with one shot.’ Ichigo muttered trying to ignore Rans comment about staring and not letting it go to his head. Toshiro was also trying to ignore the comment because he replied with amusement.

‘If you want to see how good I am, pick up a controller.’

Everyone went quiet in the room as he said it. Ichigo quickly glanced at him there was no amusement on his face. Instead his eyes looked full of concentration for the game in front of him.

‘Alright then.’ Ichigo lifted the spare controller and joined the game on his own profile that Ran had let him make. He’d been in the game for a little more than a minute when he was instantly killed by the prodigy. Ichigo turned to Toshiro only to see that damn smirk on his proud little face. He raised an arm up to pull back the sleeve from his hand once more and it caused the jumper to slip further down his shoulder. He was refusing to make eye contact with Ichigo and Ichigo narrowed his eyes. He was feeling a bit bold today.

‘Hey Toshiro-‘

‘Hitsugaya-‘

‘how about a bet?’

Everyone in the room stopped and turned to look at Ichigo. Toshiro narrowed his eyes, of course the damn prodigy wouldn’t say no, especially not in front of people. Ichigo knew that, so he gave Toshiro an innocent little grin as he practically watched the cogs turn joyously in his mind.

‘What’s the bet?’ Toshiro asked, pausing his controller before someone shot him and looking to the side of Ichigo more than actually meeting his gaze.

‘If you win best out of 5 then I will call you Hitsugaya for the rest of day I promise.’ Ichigo smiled delicately at him, trying his best to have an air of innocence still clouding his mannerisms.

‘And if I lose?’ Toshiro asked.

‘Then I get a kiss.’

The effect was almost instant, colour sprang into the white haired beauties cheeks and he scowled at the older man.

‘That’s lame,’ he tried but Ichigo knew he had him already. If Toshiro said no to this then it meant he was scared there was a possibility he may actually lose in the game and Ichigo knew that he’d never think such a thing was possible. If he agreed though, then Ichigo knew that there was still some part of the young man that was okay with the prospect of being kissed by him. He could feel the eyes of Renji, Gin and Ran glancing between the two of them and he briefly looked away from Toshiro to see Ran grinning broadly and Gin leaning over to whisper something in her ear which she nodded to.

‘Fine, I accept but _only_ because I know I will not lose.’ Toshiro finally muttered taking the bait and Ichigo smirked at his win. In Ichigos eyes he had gotten what he wanted, he’d gotten his answer that there was still some part of Toshiro that was okay with the prospect of being kissed and that was enough. He met Renji and Rans eyes and they were both smiling mischievously. Ichigo had been very meticulous in his wording… he never specified that Toshiro had to die by his character only. The shock of the bet clearly had distracted Toshiro from setting suitable ground rules.

 

The round started and Toshiro killed Ichigo with ease. That damn little smirk was plastered over the prodigy’s beautiful face again, Ichigo knew it was there because he could feel it radiating from the side of him as his attention was focused on the TV. After the second time of being killed that’s when his backup arrived.

‘Killed again Kurosaki it isn’t looking good is it?’ Toshiros confident voice chuckled from Ichigos left. The older man just ignored him, smile still in place as he watched Ran double around and kill Toshiro.

‘That’s one point to Ichigo.’ Ran sang and Toshiro frowned at her.

‘Wait what?’

‘That’s right,’ Renji said shooting Toshiro the minute he spawned nearby before he could grab a gun. ‘We’ve chosen a side in this bet.’

‘Damnit this is between Kurosaki and I.’ Toshiro blundered as he glared across the room at Ran.

‘Actually no I believe the terms were if _you_ win best out of 5, Renji and I were conveniently left out of this.’ Ran smiled and Gin chuckled by her side. So that’s what Gin had whispered in her ear, he’d have to thank the man personally later. Toshiro was unimpressed scowling at the screen when the score reached 4/4 and doing his best to try and find Ichigo before Ran and Renji caught up to his character. Renji shot Toshiro once enough to have the boy turn and kill him in a headshot, his distraction allowing Ichigo a chance for his character to sneak up behind him and break his neck using only his bare hands.

‘Damnit you fucking hustled me.’ Toshiro whined as he scowled at them all.

‘No way Shiro you lost fair and square.’ Renji laughed at the younger man and accepted the daggers that were tossed his way from Toshiros death glare.

‘Now go fourth and claim your prize Ichigo.’ Gin called with a cackle as he waved the Strawberry blond forward.

Toshiro was still scowling and glaring directly ahead of himself at the screen as he pressed himself up against the furthest corner arm rest away from Ichigo. The older man laughed at his pathetic display and slid up the sofa towards him, taking his time to enjoy this moment, Ichigo even allowed himself under the small throw that was across the boys lap as he slid up against him. Colour was rising in Toshiros cheeks and he was glaring at the ground with his arms folded.

‘A bets a bet,’ Ichigo breathed in his ear, working to let that husky voice take over him at their close proximity. Ichigos eyes danced across the pale white skin of the boys exposed neck and he let his breath run along it, feeling the boy shudder under him and turning his teal eyes towards his own. With one hand slipping under his waist Ichigo crossed the distant between them and planted his lips very firmly on the younger boys. There was a moment’s hesitation and then Toshiro melted against him, as he always did. Ichigo caught him and rose over the boy slightly as he sunk further down the sofa, his mouth opening wide to let Ichigos tongue explore it. Ichigo could taste the coffee he had been drinking and the delicate tongue that graced his own caused his head to swim. It didn’t take long before Toshiros hands had wound themselves into his orange hair and kept the older man locked there as their tongues battled furiously. The pair seemed to forget that there were three other sets of eyes now trying to look anywhere else except at the kissing couple and Ichigo decided he really didn’t care. There was only one thing he cared about and that was the smaller man in his arms and letting him know through this kiss all the emotion he’d been feeling the last few days since they’d not spoke. Ichigo stopped his hands from wandering the boys young body which he wanted to do so badly but instead he brought one hand up to cup the boys cheek tenderly.

Once Toshiro moaned into the kiss someone in the room spoke up and Ichigo was thankful, feeling that moan against his mouth almost made him completely lose it and he was already aware of his full arousal under the throw.

‘Get a room guys seriously,’ Renjis voice drawled sarcastically as the two of them broke apart gasping for air. Toshiros face was completely flushed mostly from embarrassment Ichigo guessed but knew he wouldn’t look much better himself.

‘See now that’s a kiss.’ Ran chimed happily from the other end of the sofa, ‘it looked like you both enjoyed that.’ She teased and Ichigo laughed sliding away from the boy now to give him some space but not returning fully to his previous position on the sofa.

‘Shut up Rangiku.’ Toshiro grumbled but his voice was still quite low and husky and didn’t sound the least bit intimidating. Toshiro picked up one of the cushions from behind his back and threw it at Renjis head.

‘Ow, what was that for?’ Renji glared over at the prodigy.

‘For interrupting us.’ Ichigo turned to Toshiro and grinned at him, he didn’t know why that meant so much but it was clear to him that the young man hadn’t wanted the kiss to end anymore than he had. That was worth something at least so now the only thing was to try and find out what had been happening the last few days.

 

It wasn’t until they were bored battling hoards of zombies and each other that Ichigo told them he’d picked up a new game for them to try and play. Curiosity in the room spiked and Ichigo went back to the room where he’d spent the night to pick the game up. The atmosphere in the room had lightened considerably after he and Toshiros little ‘exchange’ and Toshiro was tossing another cushion playfully at Renji who was throwing them back.

‘What did he say this time?’ Ichigo asked as he walked into the room, the game in his hand.

‘He keeps calling him Shiro,’ Ran chuckled watching the battle of the two before her, it was clear that ‘Shiro’ was very good at dodging but there wasn’t much power behind his throws.

‘C’mon now Tosh let’s settle down.’ Ichigo said as he nodded towards the Sofa.

‘Tosh!’ Toshiro scoffed and pointed a finger a him. ‘Don’t you dare start Kurosaki.’ Toshiro had lifted a pillow threateningly and Ichigo turned to Ran gesturing for her to catch the game when he tossed it gently towards her.

‘Don’t think so Tosh, that’s one fight you will not win.’ Ichigo warned turning back to the smaller man who scowled at him.

‘Yeh Toshiro he’s like three times the size of you,’ despite Renjis warning Ichigo still found himself being smacked in the face with the pillow. Toshiro was fast he’d give him that but there was no power behind that throw at all. In a flash Ichigo had Toshiro pinned under him on the sofa.

‘Now now,’ he growled in his ear, ‘I don’t even need to use any source of ammo to win this fight and you know it.’ With a mischievous grin Ichigo poked the smaller boy in the ribs as he glared up at the older man and watched him squirm. His beautiful teal eyes went wide and were full of pleading, Ichigo guessed that if Ran and Renji ever found out about the boy being ticklish he’d never live it down so Ichigo moved back off him. That was a simple warning and it had worked because Toshiro lay there glaring at the ceiling defeated.

‘As much fun as this would be to stay and watch unfold I must head to the Casino now,’ Gin chuckled kissing Ran before rising and wishing them all a good day. As he exited Ran held up the game Ichigo had given her.

‘Seriously Ichigo? You expect us to play _this?’_ She held up the game of Minecraft in her had with a ludicrous look on her face. Ichigo could feel the colour rising in his cheeks as the other two men looked at him with a similar kind of look.

‘I thought it would be fun, I’d heard it was a laugh.’

After finally agreeing to at least give it a try to humour him the friends were sat comfortably on the sofa together with controllers in hand. They’d chosen not to bother with the tutorial and instead were figuring things out for themselves. Needless to say it was Toshiro who was off to a flying start and had already started to craft things without even needing any instructions on how to do so.

He was brandishing his controller and giving them instructions on what to do and before they’d even realised it hours of their day was slipping past them.

‘How long?’ Renji asked staring at Ran with a shocked face.

‘We’ve been playing this game for over three hours now look it’s nearly 5pm,’ she laughed and pointed to the clock at the back of the room.

‘Damn thank god I don’t have anything else important to do today.’ Renji muttered as he lay down a line of cobblestone to aid in their pathetic attempts to build a castle.

‘Why don’t you all stay? You can leave early tomorrow we’ve got enough room, we could watch movies and order in?’ Ran asked and Ichigo glanced down at Tosh to see what his reaction was going to be like. Toshiro seemed comfortable where he was, lazily sprawled out on the sofa and simply nodded to Ran. This would be great perhaps before bed Ichigo would have the chance to properly have a one on one conversation with him.

‘I can’t stay but I can leave late, Rukia will kill me because I promised to go shopping with her early tomorrow.’ Renji scowled at the memory but shrugged and continued with his brickwork.

‘I’m up for staying,’ Ichigo said with a shrug, he wasn’t sure what to wear when he packed so he’d packed additional things anyway.

‘Alright then, what are we ordering in?’

After having decided pizza would be best the friends finished up their pathetic excuse of a castle, Renji grumbling something about ‘those damn creepers’ and saved the game for a chance to play it another time. The knock at the door was answered by Ran who flew off to collect the food and called Renji to help her carry it. Seeing a small window of opportunity for the boys who were now alone, Ichigo turned to Toshiro.

‘So what’s been happening?’ He asked, working to keep his tone casual so that the question could be interpreted in more ways than simply ‘what happened between us?’

Toshiro was silent for a while and took a breath sighing, he leaned forward and placed his forehead in his hands.

‘This Russian deal isn’t going well Ichigo. I’ve been really stressed and I didn’t want to suck you into things.’

Ichigo was silent listening to Ran and Renji chat to the delivery man as he handed over their order from down stairs.

‘You know if you need space Toshiro I totally understand.’ He replied, realising that the boy had actually used his first name when he spoke. ‘We moved a bit fast but I’m happy to go at any speed you need, I don’t want to be a burden I want to be here for support.’ He tried to pick his words carefully and Toshiro turned those massive teal eyes on him, they were soft and bore into his own. ‘I’d like to get to know you a little more, so I’m right here if you ever feel like talking.’

They sat staring at each other silently as Ran and Renji entered the room and walked across to the kitchen talking excitedly about how hungry they were.

‘Thank you Ichigo.’ Toshiro said finally and let out a long shaky sigh that sounded like he’d been bottling up a lot of emotions. His shoulders shook as he realised he and he scooted closer to Ichigo on the sofa. Ichigo wrapped an arm around him and pulled him in close.

‘This Russian deal has got you that stressed huh? Well I’m here to help with that too in anyway I can even if you just need someone to punch.’ He felt the smaller man chuckle at his side and pulled closer to him so he was pressed up against the side of Ichigos chest.

When the sounds reached them of their friends departing the kitchen the two boys broke apart and stood to help collect the now open boxes of pizza and plates and glasses of soda.

The rest of the evening was spent watching the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies where they had to take a drink (they swapped onto alcohol at some point) each time Jack Sparrow corrected someone on his name.

‘He sounds like you Shiro, “it’s Captain Hitsugaya to you!”’ Renji mimicked Toshiro in a very unflattering voice and earned another cushion to the head.

Somewhere towards the end of the last movie Ichigo had turned to Toshiro to chat about the movies main theme tune when he spotted the boy asleep. He’d curled up in the throw and there was a steady rise and fall of his chest. His face was peacefully and innocent looking as his head rested in his arms against the arm rest of the sofa.

‘He’s got to be exhausted,’ Ran whispered having scooted over a bit closer to Ichigo as she watched the sleeping boy. ‘He text me at 4am this morning and his business Skype said he had been active and working at 3am. He’s been so stressed over everything at work he’s not been properly sleeping.’

Ichigo frowned as he continued to stare at the boy. He felt that same protective pang in his chest as he watched the innocent and soft features.

‘What room is he staying in tonight? I’ll carry him.’ Ichigo whispered back and she grinned at him.

‘Well I was planning on having him sleep in your room beside you, he won’t mind you’re part of the reason he came here in the first place.’ Ichigo smiled sheepishly at the comment and stood up, he gently slipped his arms under the mans small body and pulled him up against his chest with ease. The throw was still tangled around his frame and Ran simply tucked it around his body as he slept in Ichigos arms. Ichigo bid the two a goodnight as Renji was getting ready to leave anyway and promised Ran he’d help her tidy up in the morning before making his way through to the room he had been sleeping in.

Opening the door caused the boy to open his eyes as he stared groggily up at Ichigo and frowned.

‘Kurosaki?’ He mumbled clearly only half awake as Ichigo lowered him down into the bed covers of the dark room.

‘No I don’t know who that is sorry, my names Ichigo.’ He chuckled as the prodigy huffed, clearly not having the strength or will to even fight back on his stupid attempt at humour. Ichigo stood to go and close the bedroom door but Toshiro must have thought he was leaving.

‘Don’t go…’ he sounded like there was more he wanted to say but didn’t. Ichigo closed the door and made his way back to the bed, climbing onto the other side and laying down beside the boy.

‘I didn’t plan on going anywhere, like I said I will be right here if you need me.’

‘I- want…’ Toshiro turned to look at him in the dark but all Ichigo could see as his eyes adjusted was the white spikes turning around. ‘I want to talk to you about something but… in the morning will you still be here?’ Ichigo reached out to find the boys hand and brought it to his lips brushing the skin gently.

‘Of course I will,’ Ichigo found it odd how small the CEO suddenly sounded as he asked that, as if he were used to someone getting up and leaving early the next morning.

‘It’s about an ex boyfriend of mine called Kusaka, he was… only interested in me for my money and sex and he…’ Ichigo squeezed his hand to get him to continue. ‘He ran into me in the bar the other night, the Russian deal started to fall apart and it was too late to wake you or Ran with the news so I went out for a drink and he was there.’ Ichigo decided not to mention that he already knew who Kusaka was through Ran and having seen Toshiro enter the club that one night. ‘He was pretty forceful but nothing happened,’ Toshiro added quickly as he must have heard Ichigos intake of breath at the thought. ‘He just pushed himself on me and I shoved him away and told him I was seeing someone but he started to put doubts in my mind that maybe we’d gone too fast, that I put out too quickly that I-‘ Ichigo could hear the lump appearing in the young mans throat now as he tried to battle through the emotion to explain what happened. ‘That I would never be loved.’ He finally finished with a whimper and Ichigo scooted close to him in the bed and pulled the young boy against him.

‘And you believed that?’ Ichigo asked and he felt Toshiro nod into his chest. Ichigos initial anger at having learned that Kusaka was attempting to force himself onto the younger man giving way to hurt as he realised what the beautiful man had been going through these past few days. Ichigo made a mental note that if he ever met this Kusaka guy he’d punch the fuckers lights out.

‘Yes we did go a bit fast but I get the sense that that’s part of who you are as a person, I’ve been pretty impatient too I like you so much Toshiro that the thought of being inside you just turned me on.’ He shrugged his large shoulders and felt the boy move with the movement. ‘It still does, but I’ll go at whatever speed you set, I’m here for you like I said I really like you.’

There was a few beats silence that followed these words and Toshiro let out a shaky breath.

‘I really like you too,’ he snuggled closer so that his head was laying on Ichigos chest and they lay in silence for a long time until Ichigo was sure the younger man had fallen asleep.

‘I’m pretty sure,’ Ichigo whispered as he listened to the deep even breaths of the younger man in his arms. ‘One day I could fall for you entirely.’


	11. Shower Encounter

Toshiro woke before Ichigo. He stirred and glanced up at the sleeping man, his head was turned away but his eyes were closed and his features soft. It was one of the first times Toshiro saw him without a stupid grin on his face, he looked a lot younger as he slept, nearly the same age as himself. Not wanting to wake the older man quite yet Toshiro needed a moment to gather his thoughts. A lot of things had been said last night with only a few actual words being spoken. Leaning his right cheek against Ichigos clothed chest the young prodigy needed to sift through his thoughts.

 

The Russia deal was sorted into a little file at the corner of the desk in his mind, he’d open that file up again very soon. Instead he had another couple of files open in front of him that required his immediate attention, one being the file of a particular Strawberry blond. He really liked this guy, even looking at his pictures in the files of his mind made his stomach flip a little. He’d always been told that the power of the relationship always lies with whoever cares the least. As harsh as that sounded it had been true. In his and Kusakas case, Toshiro had let the older man walk all over him, use and abuse him simply because of the fact he didn’t want to be alone. He always felt so lonely, the only person who never made him feel alone was his Gran but when she started to forget him, which hurt more than he’d ever care to admit to himself. He was strong for her because she needed him but other than that he was torn apart inside.

Quickly he closed over Grannys file inside his mind, which was a file he wasn’t prepared to open and look over just yet. He glanced between Kusaka and Ichigo and traced a delicate finger over the picture of Ichigos goofy smile and beautiful brown eyes. He needed to separate these files and stop the lines getting blurred; a lot of his fears around being with Ichigo were installed on him because of the way that Kusaka had been with him. Toshiro was a business man, he didn’t like wasting time and stalling and if there was something he wanted he usually went for it, that’s how he’d become such an accomplished business man. Being young though was difficult, with hormones raging he felt horny pretty much all of the time which was why his relationship with Kusaka wouldn’t last. It was hard to find a balance within himself for when the right time to cuddle was and when the right time to get down and dirty was. He knew he was a physical guy and he enjoyed sex, with Kusaka to begin with the sex had been amazing, mind blowing. Then Kusaka started to take things a bit far, being too rough with him even when he just wanted to cuddle, leaving and abandoning him after sex just because he knew how much it hurt Toshiro. Of course he’d never admit that he wanted to be cuddled because it was pathetic but he just wanted someone to care about him enough that they’d cuddle him anyway.

Teal orbs slipped over to Ichigos file once more. This was how his mind worked, it was like a giant office. Most would call it a Mind Palace, his was more of a Mind Office. With files and folders directed to particular people and events. He was still tracing Ichigos face with a finger, when he pulled back and flipped open the file. A lot of insecurities from him had been put in this file and it needed cleared out, Ichigos words last night and put a lot of the young mans mind at rest. Why couldn’t he be sexual with him and still get the cuddles? Just because it hadn’t worked with Kusaka doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work with Ichigo. He knew that Ichigo was a sensitive guy too, he’d seen that side of him when he’d pulled him close on the couch of his apartment as they watched the movie Pride. The memory of that still made him smile, that was what he needed and wanted. He’d never admit it though and never say it out loud to Ichigo but he hoped the Strawberry blond would understand considering he didn’t wish to move from that position. He’d mentioned about being too comfy because he wanted to stay like that all night. Then came the sex. That amazing, mind blowing, earth shattering sex. Thinking about it made Toshiro hard again and he tried to push it from his mind but it didn’t work. That orgasm had been one of the most mind blowing he’d experienced in a long time, Kusaka got to the point where he didn’t care about Toshiros pleasure and would ride him until he was dry, being lazy and barely stretching him or warming him up. It had felt amazing to have Ichigo inside him, it felt so different. It had felt even better as he pressed against that incredible pleasure spot and made Toshiro orgasm first. The orgasm had been so intense that Toshiro still went weak in the knees thinking about it. He wanted it again, so badly and when Ichigo had turned him on in the office and walked away Toshiro was euphoric. Little games like that, sexual challenges really got him going and he’d come up with a plan to get the tall Strawberry but then… Kusaka.

Kusaka, Kusaka, Kusaka. Fuck him. Toshiro slammed his file shut hard on the desk. Fuck him indeed. He wouldn’t waste anymore of his time on that cunt. Toshiro sat back on the imaginary chair behind the desk, rubbing his temples. He kept telling himself his constant need for sex was because of teenage hormones but if he was being honest with himself he knew it was one of the only times he felt truly close to someone. He’d never been held by his parents who died when he was very young, he’d been loved and raised by a woman who ultimately forgot who he was. He’d been discarded to the side like a piece of trash by the man he’d loved and his need to feel close to someone to feel intimate with someone was another thing that drove these lust filled missions of his. It also didn’t help that Ichigo was just so fucking _hot._ Looking back at the file on the desk he flipped through it, the memory of the boy walking topless into Rangikus living room sitting there. He couldn’t help his eyes ravishing that body of his, he made it look so effortless like some kind of God. Nothing on him was too big and nothing was err… too small. Definitely not small. Those massive arms and solid pecks and that bloody V shaped muscle.

Toshiro could feel himself melting at the thought and yet he’d been denied it in the office. That wouldn’t do.

He felt something stir and opened his eyes. A large hand was gently rubbing his side.

‘Good morning gorgeous.’ Ichigo breathed and Toshiro shuddered against his chest. He normally wasn’t one for pet names because Kusaka had been so fond of them, but the way Ichigo said it was different. Like he meant it, like it rolled off his tongue with such honesty he’d have been as well describing the colour of snow.

‘Good morning Kurosaki.’ Toshiro smiled as he heard the sigh that earned from the older boys lips. The hand stopped caressing his side and Toshiro pouted, he was enjoying that. He’d not had morning cuddles in so long. Instead the hand pressed Toshiro closer to his side and the younger man flushed slightly. He was still hard from the thoughts he’d been having about the damn Strawberry only a few moments ago. If Ichigo noticed he didn’t say anything though and instead sunk down lower in the sheets so that Toshiros head was resting comfortably on his left peck.

‘When will I get called Ichigo?’ He could almost feel the man pouting at him as he said it. Toshiro was enjoying this, his left hand had slipped up under the shirt that Ichigo wore to bed and was tracing those perfectly sculpted abs.

‘When a blue moon hangs in the sky.’ Toshiro smiled, his index finger tracing under the top of Ichigos peck and earning a whimper from the older man.

‘I can make you beg for it again and bargain you into saying it again.’ Ichigo teased and Toshiro shuddered. He’d never admit how good that sounded but he could feel his body replying to the words and Ichigo chuckled.

‘You really are a horny little thing aren’t you?’ Ichigo laughed and Toshiro pouted, he knew he was but he didn’t like having it pointed out to him. He tried to squirm away from Ichigo at those words, his hand being removed from under Ichigos top as he tried to get away but Ichigos massive arms encircled him and drew him back in. ‘Don’t leave,’ he chuckled and turned to lean down to Toshiros ear. ‘I like it.’

Toshiro tried to bat him away but really his heart wasn’t in it. The feeling of those massive protective arms around him was making him melt, just as he often did when Ichigo kissed him and wrapped him in those big arms. Toshiro continued to pretend to squirm because really it wouldn’t be good for him to give in so easily even though he already had, he had a reputation to protect after all. He’d tried to roll away and so now Ichigo was effectively spooning him from behind, Toshiros squirming stopped the moment a tender kiss was placed on the side of his neck. The gesture was so soft and sweet, lips brushing firmly against the skin before pulling away that Toshiro instantly stopped his futile attempts and melted into the covers. He could feel Ichigos smugness from behind him but he didn’t care… all he wanted more than anything was to lie here all day while Ichigos arms circled him and he kissed his neck. Clearly Ichigo was enjoying this too because he didn’t move and for a while neither boy said anything to the other, but all good things…

‘I need to go for a shower.’ Ichigo whispered down into his ear and Toshiro felt a shiver run down his spine. He wanted those lips against his skin so badly. He wanted to tell Ichigo that, he wanted him to kiss his neck again and turn him on, he wanted to be kissed all over and he wanted to do the same to the sexy strawberry. He urged his mind to say that, to tell him. Yet his mind betrayed him as it often always did.

‘You’re right you stink.’   
Ichigo chuckled and pulled away from Toshiro, his strong arms leaving behind an impression in the bed and Toshiro suddenly shivered as the air of the room hit the skin of his exposed neck. He’d fallen asleep in the jumper and it had slipped its way down his shoulder as he’d squirmed to get free of Ichigos grasp. He was furious at himself, if he’d only just said to Ichigo what was on his mind then he’d be kissing the man right now and pulling his clothes off instead of being in the bed alone. He always did this to himself.

‘You can join me,’ Ichigo chimed as he pulled his top off and threw it on the floor. Toshiros eyes snapped over to him, the mans biceps and torso exposed and looking as lush as ever. Tightly tanned skin pulled over bulge after bulge of muscle and simple movements such as reaching around his neck to unclasp his silver chain caused those muscles to move in a beautiful way. Toshiro couldn’t help but drink in the sight, he was so hot for this man it wasn’t even fair.

“‘Staring is rude.’” Ichigo quoted and Toshiro glared at him, he could feel heat flood into his cheeks and he fell back against the pillow throwing an arm across his face to try and hide his own embarrassment. He could hear Ichigo chuckle and heard the sound of more clothes being removed, he peaked out from under his arm and blushed furiously. The handsome strawberry blond was standing with his back to the bed about to head into the bathroom _naked._ While Ichigo was distracted by selecting music on his phone, Toshiros teal eyes drunk in everything. His broad shoulders and muscled back drifted effortlessly down to a slightly slimmer waist with two delicate back dimples. His ass was full and muscled and looked… _so tight._ The heavenly darker skin stretching over the two round globes was as tight as an elastic band stretched to its limits. Toshiros mouth had suddenly gone very dry, he’d seen this view once before but even then he couldn’t fully marvel at the beauty because he’d been distracted by being late. Now he relished it. Just from looking Toshiro could already feel his hard erection straining against his boxers to be free. He was on the verge of saying something when Ichigo walked into the bathroom but left the door wide open. A few minutes later the sound of running water graced his ears and he groaned. That body was sexy enough he didn’t need to picture it with water running down it.

He was strong. He could stay in bed and take his turn to shower once the strawberry came out.

But he’d been invited in.

Yeah but he shouldn’t go.

Why not?

To show he had some kind of self control.

Could just let Ichigo screw that self control right out the window.

No. Wrong thoughts! Wrong!

And yet so damn good.

No. He needed a distraction. Something to distract his mind from the painful erection in his boxers. He quickly sat up and reached over to the side table opening the drawer open to see if Rangiku kept any books. Of course she didn’t. The world was taunting him. There was only one thing in the drawer.

He pulled out a full and sealed bottle of water resistant lube.

The world was against him right now, as he glared at the light blue substance in the bottle. He could put it back, pretend he never looked. Yet the painful erection in his boxers was urging him forward, aching to be under the same running water that was coursing over Ichigos beautiful – GAH!

He ripped the coverings off the bottle of lube and stood up fast enough he nearly got a head rush. He pulled his jumper off and his pants, feeling relieved when his pulsing member was free of its bindings. Popping the lid of the lube he made his way into the bathroom.

 

The room had already begun to steam up and there was a thin layer of moisture blocking the view through the glass of Ichigo. Toshiros swallowed thickly, even through the blurred glass he could see how sexy the strawberry was, by this point most coherent thoughts had evaporated from the prodigy’s mind. He moved forward and slid open the glass door of the shower, effectively gaining the strawberrys attention, with a face full of water he shook out his hair and ran a hand down his face before he opened his eyes to glance at Toshiro. Toshiro was hiding the lube behind his back and felt the hot water hit his chest as Ichigo pulled him into his arms. Soon the water was running down the two men and Toshiro closed his eyes shaking his head and gasping to get away from the flow.

‘You came,’ Ichigo sounded really please as Toshiro tried to squirm from his grasp.

‘I didn’t come to get drowned,’ Toshiro squealed as he brought a hand up to get rid of the moisture from his face, the other still clinging onto the bottle behind his back.

‘No? So what did you come in for then?’ Ichigo took a few steps to clear them away from the water and pressed Toshiro up against the tiled wall at the back. Toshiro felt the warm wet body press up against him and shuddered, the man was already hard and Toshiro could feel it pressing against his torso. ‘Hmmm?’

By this point Ichigo had realised there was something behind his back and his large hand encircled Toshiros own and tugged the bottle of lube from his grip, at the same time Ichigos lips had pressed against his own in a tentative kiss.

‘What’s this?’ Ichigo asked prying the lube from his fingers and bringing around to his face a smirk appearing on his features as Toshiro just scowled at him.

‘I found it in one of the drawers…’ Toshiro defended himself.

‘And you brought it in here?’ Ichigo placed the lube on one of the little soap shelves in the shower. ‘Why would you bring it in here I wonder?’ Ichigo chuckled as he began to kiss under Toshiros jaw and down his neck.

‘Because… because I… I….’ Toshiro was struggling to get a coherent sentence out as each kiss sent a hot electric current up and down his being.

‘Hmm?’ Ichigo hummed into his neck as he continued his trail of torturous kisses towards his collarbone.

‘I-I thought maybe we could use it.’ Toshiro couldn’t help the gasp that slipped from his lips as his hands reached around Ichigos warm wet back, tracing over his beautiful muscles and wet skin. As he said this Ichigos hand slipped down between his legs and gently grasped Toshiros erections. The feeling sent a shockwave of pleasure over him and Toshiro moaned into Ichigos ear, creating an animalistic response in the older man who growled and began to kiss with more urgency.

‘F-fuck Ichigo,’ Toshiro muttered with a groan as his strokes to his member increased, at this rate he wouldn’t last long.

‘What do you want Gorgeous?’ He groaned as he pulled his head back up from his neck and kissed him passionately, tongue slipping into his mouth to dance with his own. God he wanted him so bad.

‘I want you,’ he murmured against his lips and Ichigo reached up to grab the bottle of lube. Soon two slick fingers had wormed their way inside Toshiro and he was gasping at the intrusion, holding onto Ichigos arms for dear life while the strawberry sought the one thing that would make this feel better. Soon his fingers brushed against it and Toshiros legs almost buckled as he moaned, Ichigo kept a hold of him in his strong arms and continued to pound that spot inside him. Part of Ichigos body was under the water and Toshiro couldn’t even feel the temperature of it now because all he could think about was how badly he wanted the man inside him.

‘P-Please Ichigo,’ he gasped as Ichigos rhythm increased, Toshiros shaky hand reached down and grasped at the older mans erection earning a moan of approval, he noticed that Ichigo had already slicked it with lube. ‘I need you,’ he muttered against the mans skin and Ichigo soon had lifted the boy up effortlessly into his arms and pressed him against the tiled wall. He felt Ichigo pressing against his entrance and slowly start to push inside as his mouth came down upon his neck. He let a whimper escape his lips at the feeling the pressure was painful but Ichigo was slow and gentle, soon he was fully inside and Ichigo gave him a while to adjust which Toshiro was thankful for. All the while Ichigo was whispering gentle encouragements in his ear, words of care until Toshiro began to move his hips and basically silenced all words. Ichigo grunted against the movement and began to move as well, pulling out and pushing back in, Toshiro could feel him sliding out then every glorious inch slamming back in, out and back in. Toshiros head snapped back and he gasped, his hands clutching around Ichigos neck, then Ichigo began to press against his prostate and the feeling was glorious, wave after spine shattering wave of pleasure coursing through his body.

‘Fuck-Ich-Nnnnnngggg… I can’t I’m gonna…’ Toshiro gritted his teeth trying to prolong the orgasm until Ichigo reached between his legs and with one single stroke, Toshiro was sent flying over the edge, coming hard against Ichigos chest with a loud moan he felt his muscles spasm and tighten around the strawberry who started to come within him.

‘Fuck Toshiro,’ he moaned into his ear placing a hand against the tiled wall to steady himself and still holding Toshiro up, it was all very impressive since Toshiro basically went limbless after his orgasm. How the strawberry managed to keep his composure was beyond him. He felt the older male pull out and his shaky limbs untangled themselves from his waist and lowered to the shower floor where Ichigo helped him stay standing, both panting wildly.

He didn’t need words but when Ichigos lips came down upon his he felt himself melt against the older boys body who wrapped those massive arms back around him. This was what Toshiro needed, this kind of treatment, to be sexually satisfied and also held. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have had Ichigo walk into his life.

‘C’mon handsome everyone will be wondering where we’ve gone.’ Ichigo muttered and Toshiros met his eyes with his own, he felt very sleepy again and wondered if they’d get away with going back to bed for some more cuddling, he highly doubted it though.

‘Kay,’ he muttered as Ichigo pulled him back under the water to help him clean up. The water had run cool and Toshiro shivered as it came down on his skin, Ichigo had the bar of soap in his hands and lathered the two of them up as they stood under the flow. Toshiros was basically just letting the strawberry blond do whatever he wanted as he played with those beautiful orange spikes on top of his head.   
One the water was shut off Ichigo stepped out and handed Toshiro a towel, the prodigy began to dry himself vigorously – it was the best way to get his spikes to stand at attention – and thoroughly dried himself, he noticed Ichigo was more of a ‘wrapper’ and left his spikes wet on top of his head.

‘Not drying yourself?’ Toshiro asked gazing up at the head of orange spikes, Ichigo shrugged with a grin.

‘They sit better when I don’t towel dry them.’ He wrapped his arms around Toshiro and the younger boy and chuckled. ‘Besides wrapping can be fun.’ Toshiro swatted his arm away and playfully glared at him.

‘Yeah alright,’ he mused and they heard someone knocking on the bedroom door.

‘Are you guys up?’ It was Rangikus voice and Toshiro chuckled as Ichigos lips found the back of his neck.

‘Yeah we’re awake, don’t worry we’ll be leaving soon.’ Toshiro called back out and tried to pull away from the older man. ‘I need to go, I have a skype call at 1pm and I need to be in the office for it.’

‘But it’s Sunday,’ Ichigo whined in his ear.

‘I know but sometimes we adults have to work overtime.’ He pulled himself free of Ichigos embrace and his towel, hearing a groan of approval from the older man, and walked back into the bedroom throwing clothes on.

‘You know, I still don’t know that much about you,’ Ichigo mused as he leaned against the frame of the bathroom door and watched Toshiro get ready.

‘What would you like to know?’

‘Small things, like your favourite colour, what food do you like? What food do you dislike? All that kind of stuff.’ Ichigo shrugged and Toshiro chuckled at the man.

‘My favourite colour used to be white but now I’m rather enjoying the colour of strawberry blond,’ Toshiros eyes flickered to the glorious spikes perched atop the students head. This comment caused Ichigo to grin broadly and Toshiro flushed as he continued. ‘I love pretty much any food though I am not a big fan of rice,’ he wrinkled his nose, or mushrooms and some food shouldn’t go together like pineapple on pizza.’

‘I like pineapple on a pizza.’ Ichigo smiled and Toshiro scowled at him.

‘Okay you instantly became less attractive.’ He said playfully but Ichigos hands lowered down to his waist and played with the knot of his towel.

‘That’s a pity,’ he muttered, ‘that you find me less attractive and all.’ He continued to play with that darn knot and Toshiros eyes were so focused on it, just one slip and the entire towel would fall, he was doing it on purpose.

‘Gahh, stop it I’m going to be late, stop distracting me.’ He quickly turned around and gathered up his things.

‘Toshiro?’ Ichigo was suddenly behind him and the prodigy jumped at the proximity, colour flaring into his cheeks.

‘Yes?’

‘Can I call you my boyfriend now, you know, just to people we want to tell?’

Toshiro gulped, it was true this Russian deal was sensitive and he didn’t want to do anything to blow it, but the thought of calling the tall man his was something he couldn’t refuse. After a few painful moments of those warm caramel eyes trained in on his own he finally nodded and Ichigo kissed him enthusiastically.

‘But keep it shhhh just now Kurosaki.’ Toshiro scolded as he made to leave the room.

‘I’m your boyfriend you have to call me by my first name now surely?’

‘No I don’t,’ and he was out the door quicker than a speeding train.

 


	12. Jimmy Fallon Show

Why did he say it?

 

His heart was hammering in his head as he desperately tried to dial his boyfriends number. He wasn’t answering, why wouldn’t he respond? Had he been that badly hurt? Of course he had been. What an idiot.

Toshiro pinched the bridge of his nose, he was in the back of his car and his driver was taking him home. Correction his driver was taking him into a garage where he’d have to swap cars because currently they were being tail gaited by the paparazzi. This was getting ridiculous now and the stress of the situation was completely evident on Toshiros currently stressed face.

 

It had been two months since Toshiro had agreed that he and Ichigo become official boyfriends, two months since the amazing shower sex and of course there had been many more instances of that to come after. However now here he was panicking that maybe Ichigo wouldn’t ever speak to him again, because he’d just done something unthinkable… unimaginable.

 

 

**Earlier that afternoon…**

‘You’ll be amazing,’ Ichigo cooed in his ear causing him to shiver. Leaning back into his boyfriends large arms he felt comforted and less burdened, like the muscles were forcing the apprehension away. He closed his eyes and tried to remember this feeling so once he walked out in front of the live cameras he could recall this moment when he felt anxious.

Probably sensing that he needed time to contemplate Ichigo didn’t make another sound as they cuddled on his couch, fingers interlaced in their right hands that were playing endearingly on Toshiros lap. He’d been hanging out in his boyfriends apartment more and more often since the paparazzi had taken to scoping out his place. They were trying to be as discreet as possible but it was getting harder and harder. The Russian deal had been a success and after that combined with the vogue shoot had launched Toshiro into total fame. Now he’d managed to worm his way – unwillingly – and shockingly into the top 10 most attractive men of 2016.

It had come as no surprise to Ichigo who was partly offended that he’d only placed #8 on the list and insisted he should have been #1 then argued with Rangiku that Aiden Turner didn’t belong there. It had been an amusing argument but looking at the list from Glamour magazine himself he didn’t quite have the raw sexiness charm that Aiden seemed to have so he’d ultimately sided with Rangiku considering he didn’t even want to be on the list in the first place.

Later that day he was due to appear on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon live. After speaking with Rukia, Ichigo and Rangiku they’d decided it best that Ichigo didn’t come with him, since they’d already been photographed together and there had been a number of close calls since then, it was best that Ichigo watch the show from Rangiku’s apartment with her and Gin.

Even though Toshiros Russian deal had been a success they still had to cooperate together for the next year, on the back of this Ichigo had still not visited his family to tell them in person that he was gay let alone that he had a boyfriend. So they both agreed they’d rather keep things discrete and just between close friends.

 

The television was yattering away in the background as Toshiro continued to play with the digits on his boyfriends hand, wriggling his fingers between Ichigos larger ones and stroking them gently with his thumb, this was his happy place. This is the place he’d picture when he walked out on stage that night for the first of many interviews to come.

He didn’t want to do the shoots, the interviews and be launched into the fame light but Rukia had beaten him into it, she had made very valid arguments, this would all pass in a year or so once this big Russian deal was over and he could hire someone else to run the business for him and leave him to do whatever he wanted. If he didn’t do all this though the paparazzi would get worse, wondering what secrets he had to hide and their investigations would get worse the more secretive he was being, eventually they’d find out about him and Ichigo. At least by voluntarily going on TV shows and appearing for magazine interviews he was keeping the worst of them at bay and the only ones that seemed to be following him were the overly ambitions youngsters trying to crack into the industry of journalism with a big break. They were clumsy, untrained and easier to avoid and he wanted to keep it that way, thus he’d agreed to Rukias plan of action.

With a deep sigh Toshiro retracted his fingers and turned in towards Ichigos chest, the taller male pulled his boyfriend in close and Toshiro breathed in his scent. This also helped to calm him, Ichigos scent was like a drug, one that he was totally addicted too, his scent brought images of warmth and spiced mulled wine and strawberries. Thinking about the fruit made him grin and Ichigo kissed the top of his head.

‘What are you grinning about?’ Ichigo asked with an amused tone, a smile obviously playing at the edges of his lips too.

‘Nothing,’ Toshiro muttered but nuzzled closer into his chest and sighed contently.

‘You’re being cute, you’re only cute when something’s on your mind.’ Ichigo hummed and Toshiro frowned into his chest, they’d only been together for a couple of months now and already the strawberry knew him too well.

‘I was just thinking about strawberries,’ Toshiro muttered and Ichigo chuckled.

‘Why do I always get compared to that fruit?’

‘It isn’t a bad fruit to get compared too, it’s better than a mango.’

‘Or a banana?’

‘Banana is technically a berry,’

‘So is a strawberry?’

‘Not by scientific terms, strawberries technically aren’t berries at all, they’re just regular fruits.’

  
After this discussion Ichigo had to go and google berries because he couldn’t believe what his genius boyfriend was saying and sat with his mouth wide open on the edge of the couch as he read through the article explaining why bananas were berries and straweberries weren’t. Toshiro sat amused watching his handsome boyfriend as his facial features contorted from shock to awe to amusement within a few short minutes of each other.

‘Never doubt me Kurosaki.’ Toshiro boldly stated and put his hands behind his head laying back flat on the couch with an air of superiority about him. Ichigo grinned and put his phone down on the small table and crawled over him so he was hovering above the small body of the prodigy.

‘How do you know weird shit like that?’ he asked and Toshiro wriggled under him suggestively and offered him a shy smile.

‘Because I’m weird,’

‘Correction you’re actually very, very cute…’ Ichigo leaned down and planted a kiss on the tip of his nose, ‘and very sexy,’ he breathed as his lips made their way down to his and soon the two of them were kissing on the couch as Ichigo lowered his body to press against Toshiros. The make out session started sweet as it always did, but then began to heat up as Toshiro moved his legs, spreading them and then wrapping them around Ichigos waist, the strawberry moaned against Toshiros open mouth and the genius felt heat flow to his groin which he bucked against the older male.

‘T-Toshiro, we don’t have time….’ Ichigo panted against his lips as the small white haired beauty continued to grind his hardening erection into Ichigos stomach.

‘I can be late for hair and makeup,’ Toshiro hummed as Ichigo made to pull back but was stopped by two surprisingly strong arms around his neck.

‘Toshiro…’ Ichigo groaned shaking his head with a smile as he began to grind back against the boy earning a needy moan from the prodigy. They were interrupted by the sound of Toshiros phone buzzing on the table. With a growl of protest, Ichigo pulled away and leaned over to pick up the intrusive device offering it to his small lover.

Toshiro took it and glared at the picture of Rukia that had lit up his screen, pressing the answer button he held it to his ear.

‘What’s up Rukia?’ he asked as he only half listened to what she was saying, his thumb tracing over the strawberrys plump lower lip and stealing a kiss or two while she spoke to him down the phone.

‘Okay I’ll be ready in 5,’ he sighed as he clicked the hang up button. Ichigo chuckled and detangled himself from his boyfriends limbs on the couch.

‘Alright handsome lets get you to this interview of yours.’

 

* * *

 

 

He was nervous beyond belief and so desperately wished that Ichigo had come with him, he knew of course why the luscious strawberry couldn’t but that didn’t stop him from just wishing he had come. Small hands were playing subconsciously with his belt hoop, twisting it between two pale fingers as he paced back and forward in his changing room. Ichigo had demanded for his appearance on the TV show that he wore the white waist coat with the white tie and pale icy blue shirt again. Of course this outfit meant something to them for it had been the outfit he’d worn the night they first slept together. The fond memories of the white tie making him smile and blush at the same time, of course it had been washed since that night.

Rukia burst into the room without a warning, just as she always did to his office and he scowled, straightening up and turning around to glare at her.

‘You’re due on in 20 minutes,’ she said as he realised she was followed by one of the shows assistant producers, the woman looked strict and had an earpiece in and a radio attached to her hip but she smiled warmly at Toshiro as she walked in.

‘Mr Hitsugaya I’ll come and collect you shortly alright? Is there anything we can get you while you wait?’ she asked and Toshiro opened his dry mouth several times before Rukia spoke for him.

‘A bottle of Highland Spring water would be great and perhaps a whiskey I know I sent for a bottle.’ Toshiro was thankful that she took charge and the producer spoke into her radio and left the room.

Rukia took a seat on one of the large sofas in the room and looked at Toshiro.

‘How are you feeling?’

‘I think I’ll feel better when I have the whiskey, thank you.’

Rukia nodded and started punching away on her phone, when an assistant knocked on the door and let himself in with a tray, that held two glasses one tall for the bottle of water he carried and another small and square with ice for the whiskey.

Waiting until the shy assistant had departed Toshiro opened the bottle of whiskey and unapologetically drank straight from the bottle, watching as Rukia scowled at him for doing so.

‘Don’t spill it and don’t get drunk.’ She scolded him and he scowled at her.

‘I am not a child.’ However he did pour the whiskey into the glass with the ice instead and sipped it, feeling the warmth already coursing through his body. This helped, he felt better already as he clutched the glass pathetically to his body. He was leaning against the back dresser in the room, to anyone who walked in he’d look calm, collected, professional and powerful. His shoulders were squared and back his neck straight, chin pointed up and eyes wide and alert, he’d learned how to hold himself from a very young age to give the proper impression to anyone he wanted to influence. Today he wanted to influence everyone because if he could convince them all that he was in control, powerful and dominant then maybe, just maybe he’d believe it too.

‘Mr Hitsugaya, we’re ready for you.’ It was the producer from earlier and Toshiro removed himself from the dresser putting his glass of whiskey down.

‘Is there a cup I can put my whiskey in?’ he asked smoothly, putting on his cool front even though under it all he was bubbling nervously and ready to take off running.

‘Sure we have cups on stage I’ll make sure one is half full for you,’ the producer smiled at him and turned to one of the many runners who bolted off to make it happen. Toshiro walked out and followed behind the producer who was going over exactly what was about to happen. Rukia was walking close behind him, listening intently as well.

‘So we are going to put a mic on you, we’ll count you down and you just walk out, greet Jimmy, sit down and begin the interview, it shouldn’t last anymore than 12 minutes tops, there will be an intermission in the middle where we can get you a quick refill of your cup if need be. Rukia will be off stage with a runner watching from behind the scenes on the cameras.’ The producer rattled off and Toshiro focused on her voice and on his breathing, remembering to keep his shoulders squared and his back straight. Very soon they were standing just off from the main stage and Jimmy was talking away causally in front of the cameras and looking effortless as he did so. Someone was touching him and Toshiro quickly turned around quirking a brow. It was the producer again and she clipped something into his belt, it was the base of a wireless microphone and handed him the main mic asking him to pull it up under his waistcoat which he did, trying his best to not let his shaking hands show.

‘Tonight’s guest has been voted one of the top ten sexiest men in the _world!’_ There were screams from some of the women in the audience and Toshiros mouth went dry, his heart was hammering in his head; _thump, thump thump_ , and he could hear the rush of his blood. It was all happening so fast.

‘He’s a genius who setup his own business before he even reached the age of 18 years old,’ _thump, thump thump,_ went his heart, ‘now he invests to bring us the very best in cinematic experiences…’ _thump, thump, thump,_ ‘please welcome, Toshiro Hitsugaya!’

There was a round of applause and Toshiro straightened up, forced a charming smile on his face and walked out onto the stage, the lights weren’t as blinding as he’d have liked and he could easily see the three cameras and the crowed who were screaming and wolf whistling. He gave the crowed a delicate incline of his head and turned towards Jimmy who towered over him, reaching out his hand he shook it and thanked him kindly for having him on the show.

Toshiro took his seat close to Jimmy’s desk, aware the cup of whiskey was on his left but realised it would be too early to probably take a sip, he didn’t want to appear vulnerable on camera and instead took to watching Jimmy intently. Everything about the hosts body language screamed comfortable, it was very clear he was working hard to try and make Toshiro relax.

‘Such a pleasure to have you on the show,’

‘Thank you, it’s great to be here, I see you on TV all the time.’ Toshiro smiled warmly or what he hoped was warmly and not just pathetically.

‘Oh do you? Is that like in a private jet?’ Jimmy teased, leaning forward and smiling in a way that made Toshiro feel like they’d been friends for years.

‘Yeah in all my private jets,’ Toshiro went along with it since he’d watched many interviews with this man and realised that the best interviewers were the ones who played along and enjoyed a laugh.

‘How many do you have?’

‘I’ve got a big black jet with a bedroom in it,’ he nodded, ‘when I joined the mile high club at 37,000 feet.’

‘Alright rockstar,’ Jimmy laughed catching onto his joke, ‘are you a nickleback fan then?’

‘Don’t say that too loud I have a reputation to protect.’ Toshiro threw him a playful glare and leaned back in his seat a little, allowing his eyes to scrutinize the host who laugh with him.

‘Alright Hitsugaya,’ the host had clearly done his research to call him by his last name, ‘and I understand this is your first ever on screen interview?’

‘Yes it is, so be gentle with me it’s my first time.’ He hadn’t meant for it to sound as sexual as it did but there were definitive laughs from the audience and a few girls screaming something about love.

‘Well what an honour for us, so tell me then Hisugaya what has the last year been like for you with everything that’s been going on?’

‘Crazy,’ Toshiro said allowing his hand to come up and rub his temple but leaving a casual smile on his face as he watched the host, ‘it feels like it’s gone so fast.’

‘What have been the highlights then?’

‘Well definitely securing the Russian deal, I know that a lot of people have been wanting that superhero movie to make a debut over here so I’m just happy I was able to make that happen.’

‘And you managed to get some of the Marvel directors and producers to team up for the project I’d heard as well?’ Jimmy was still smiling at him, the look was now more like a proud dad than an old friend and it seemed to relax Toshiro even more.

‘Yes I did, I have many contacts within Marvel and a lot of them were keen for the project, it was actually a number of them who brought me to the table to secure the deal in the first place.’

‘And where did this talent come from? This ability to negotiate?’

‘I wouldn’t really say it was an ability I just love getting what I want.’ He laughed along with Jimmy who shook his head, Toshiro glanced out at the audience and saw a producer waving something behind one of the cameras. He quickly turned back towards Jimmy who smiled warmly.

‘Well now wasn’t the vogue shoot a highlight for you?’

‘Ah well,’ he shuffled in his seat, ‘the people at vogue are amazing and talented at what they do, I’ve just never been much of a lover for the limelight myself.’ Jimmy nodded at him.

‘Well we can talk a little more about it after this short break, we’ll be right.’ He said as he turned towards the cameras, Toshiro followed suit and smiled warmly into one of the lenses.

The producer ran forward to adjust one of the mics on the desk and people were moving about as the break happened, Jimmy leaned forward.

‘Are you okay?’

‘Yeah I am, does it always go this fast?’ he asked and Jimmy laughed and nodded as Toshiro reached over to grab his mug and drank a lot of the whiskey inside it.

‘Yeah it does go really fast, I promise I won’t chat too much about the vogue shoot just want to use it as a bridge to talk about you becoming one of the top 10 sexiest men of 2016, is that alright?’

‘Sure, thank you for asking, I’ll admit I’m still not even sure how all that happened.’ Toshiro sighed as he drained the last of the cup, feeling the warmth spill through him and feeling a little braver for the relaxing effect the alcohol had on him.

‘You’re too modest Mr Hitsugaya, you’re charming, kind and very attractive, I’m just surprised you didn’t make spot #1.’ Jimmy said with a definitive smile and Toshiro grinned back to him. The host made him feel way more relaxed and comfortable than he should have been. Soon they were being counted down to being back on air and Jimmy’s booming boisterous voice was sounding his welcome.

‘So Hitsugaya, sorry to embarrass you but,’ he pulled out the vogue magazine cover that Toshiro was on and the boy felt himself groan and he knew that heat was flooding his cheeks as the live studio audience behind him wolf whistled and cheered.

‘You look really good, doesn’t he look good?’ Everyone in the audience was cheering and clapping and Toshiro tried to shake the shy smile off his face as he looked imploringly at Jimmy, hoping he’d put it away – which he did.

‘So that magazine shoot then, seemed to launch you into this top ten sexiest men of 2016 list, that’s crazy.’

‘Tell me about it, it’s been insane, paparazzi following me and everything.’ Toshiro sighed and rubbed the back of his head, a habit he’d picked up from his sexy boyfriend.

‘So tell me then, has this helped the love life at all?’ Ah, Toshiro felt his mouth go dry, he knew he’d have to be careful here but the alcohol was buzzing at the back of his head and he laughed a little at the question.

‘Nah not really.’

‘No one special then?’

He snorted and shook his head, ‘no,’

‘Because I think there are plenty of ladies in the audience that would love to go on a date with you.’ There was a definitive cheering from the audience that caused another one of those damn endearing blushes to flourish across his face.

‘I’m not looking for anything just now no,’

‘So quench these rumours once and for all then, that guy you were pictured with?’

‘He is my assistant and that’s all he is to me.’   
Ouch.

He knew it was a mistake as soon as the words left his mouth, registering something was wrong Jimmy quickly changed course of the interview.

‘Alright then maybe the paparazzi will leave you alone now, anyway when is the big premier for the movie?’

‘It’s going to be next summer,’ Toshiro said, the smile on his face feeling a little bit fake now as panic rose like bile in the back of his throat.

‘It’s going to be a big night for you and the movie at the moment is still currently unnamed?’

Toshiro tried to fight back his panic and offered a smile to Jimmy, ‘it’s got a name but the name is still under wrap just now,’ he tried to grin and Jimmy nodded then thanked him for being on the show and everything happened so quickly again. He was being rushed off stage and Jimmy was setting up for his second section of his show, Toshiro was panicking and all he wanted to do was call Ichigo and make sure that his boyfriend was alright.

 

* * *

 

 

That’s what led him to panicking in his car, as he continued to push the dial button in his phone, the panic still settling in his throat. Eventually Ichigo answered but his voice sounded broken.

‘Hi, Ichigo,’ Toshiro blurted, his panic rising hysterically as he sat back in his chair, ‘Ichigo I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean-‘

‘I know I get it.’   
Click.

 

Did… he just… hang up on him? Toshiro took the phone away from his ear and stared at the screen for a long time. His panic and hurt ebbing away to anger as he frowned at his phone. What the hell had the strawberry been expecting? Now Toshiro was pissed off. He’d been trying to avoid anything relating to his sexuality and to him being with Ichigo for Ichigos sake just as much as his own? Did he want Jimmy to dwell on the ‘strawberry blond’ he’d been pictured with on several occasions to become known throughout the whole of America so that Ichigos family would know before he told them? Of course not, maybe it wasn’t the best way to say it but he wanted to shut down the conversation in the interview as quickly as possible, Ichigo had to fucking man up.

 

Sitting fuming and readying exactly what he was going to say to his boyfriend when he saw him Toshiro was ready for the car changeover once the car pulled into a garage. He quickly jumped out and into a smaller car as the main one pulled back out of the garage. Any paparazzi following them would be going after that car, waiting for it come back out and Toshiro was nestled safely in the back of a more modest car with tainted windows.

He continued to fume all the way to Rangikus apartment and jumped out the car and bounded up the stairs towards it. She instantly was at the door ready for him and her face crumpled as he entered the apartment.

‘He’s gone Toshiro,’ he froze at her words, feeling an icy shiver run down his back, ‘he wanted to be alone for a bit so he went out for a walk.’

‘When will he be back?’

‘I don’t think he’s coming back, he took his stuff.’

Toshiro opened the door and jumped down the steps looking up and down the streets, they were dark and there was no strawberry blond in sight. The hurt and anger was making way for a dull throb in the back of his throat now and he tried to swallow back a lump as he stood on Rangikus step. Something wet and cold landed on his cheek and he glanced up into the sky, it had started to snow. The delicate flakes were so frail and yet left a cold tingle on his cheek where it landed.

‘I’m going home.’ Toshiro mumbled, walking down the steps, Rangiku was instantly behind him.

‘You’re not getting a taxi, I’ll take you, wait here.’ She called up the stairs for Gin to throw her car keys down and soon her warm hand was pressing against the back of his back.

He couldn’t even remember sliding into her car as he sat engrossed in his anger and the dull empty feeling in his chest.

‘I guess this isn’t the appropriate time to wish you a happy birthday?’ She tried to cheer him up and he looked at the clock that had just struck after 12am on the 20th December. Toshiro sighed and felt a lump rise in his throat and felt his eyes glaze over. He’d been looking forward to spending the night at Rangiku’s and celebrating his birthday with her and Ichigo and Gin the next day. Now he sat in her car feeling deflated and depressed.

‘What did he say?’

‘He… didn’t really say anything but we knew he had been hurt.’ Rangiku said with a sympathetic edge to her voice, ‘as soon as those words left your mouth.’

‘What else was I meant to say?’ He didn’t mean to shout at her but he was still very angry at the whole situation. ‘Oh yeah that’s the guy I bang every other night, sometimes twice a night if we’re feeling horny enough.’ Rangiku didn’t speak and let him calm down until he apologised for it.

‘That’s alright, look I know that this kind of thing stresses you out, he knows it too I guess there’s something a bit different about us all sitting around discussing what you’re saying as opposed to seeing it live on TV, it makes it much more real and I think for him in that moment you seemed so unreal to him, so unavailable, so distant and so famous.’

Toshiro listened and tried to understand, tried to put himself in Ichigos place and if the roles were reversed, if Ichigo was the billionaire who had been voted into the top 10 sexiest men of 2016 who had appeared on TV and who had said those things about him. Toshiro winced, as he felt a tightness clamp around his heart.

‘He knows how I feel about him.’ He mumbled out into the silence, trying to remember the times he’d said it…

‘Does he? When was the last time you affirmed your feelings for him?’ Rangiku asked and Toshiro winced… he was more of a shower than a vocalist when it came to relationships.

‘Well maybe it’s something you need to think about, I’ve seen the way he looks at you Toshiro it’s so clear he’s so smitten with you and tonight that must have really hurt him, to see you as completely unavailable to him.’

Toshiro pulled his legs up onto the seat and wrapped his arms around them, nuzzling his head down into his knees so they pressed against his eyes.

‘I don’t know how I feel, I know I like him a lot… but…’ He felt a lump rise in his throat and bit his bottom lip.

‘He’s probably not looking for a declaration of love, he’s just wanting to know that you care, that you’re not going to saunter off into the world of fame and leave him behind.’

Toshiro nodded pathetically into his knees. He didn’t care if he looked like a child right now because it was Rangiku and he could act anyway he wanted in front of her without ever being judged. ‘What a crap birthday.’ He mumbled pathetically and he felt one of Rangikus hands gently stroke his back, he was aware the car wasn’t moving and they must have been just around the corner from his place.

‘Hi Gin, I’m going to stay with Toshiro tonight,’ Toshiros head snapped up to see her on her phone, her other hand still rubbing gentle comforting circles around his back, he didn’t protest the idea of having some company on his birthday was welcomed. He didn’t want to be alone now.

 

They made their way into his apartment block and he didn’t care if any paparazzi were going to be photographing him with Rangiku, she’d already told Gin and even Ichigo couldn’t get mad that his best friend was staying with him on his birthday.

He wasn’t even aware when they stepped into his apartment, everything was just blurring and he just wanted to go to bed and curl up and cry. Rangiku didn’t say anything but followed behind him as he kicked open his bedroom door and flicked on the light, then froze. There was box on his bed, wrapped with beautiful delicate pale blue paper with a white bow.

‘What?’ He stepped forward and looked at the box, turning around to see Rangiku smiling and she pointed towards the living room.

‘I’ll be through there if you need me.’ She scampered off with a smug look on her face, leaving Toshiro to gently pull at the white bow on the top of the gift. He tugged it open and peeled back the paper, it was a box and he lifted the lid. There was a letter on the top with shredded white paper inside hiding the gift.

Pulling out the letter Toshiro slipped his finger under the fold and gentle opened it with his finger, pulling out the letter with the obvious transcript from his boyfriend. He’d seen enough reports from Ichigo to recognise his handwriting anywhere. He felt a lump rise in his throat and he tried to swallow it as he read;

 

_‘Happy Birthday Handsome,_ _J_

_What do you get the guy who could buy his own chain of cinema and restaurants? That’s something I’ve been struggling with, so I decided to get you something that would have more than monetary value to it. Rangiku helped me with this and I couldn’t really have done it without her._

_Enclosed are papers tracing back your Grandmothers ancestry in Scotland all the way back to the early 1600’s I think you’ll like the stories from your ancestors, they seem just as insane as you are and I can very easily see where you get your wild traits._

_I also got you a couple of gifts made from the tartan of your clan; Clan Gordon, I hope you have a fantastic birthday Handsome._

_Yer always oan mah mind._

_Ichigo.’_

Toshiro could feel the tears swelling at the corners of his eyes as he fought back the smile on his face. He’d always wanted to trace back his history, he’d just never had the time, he pulled the letter away and glanced through document after document of his family’s history. Where they’d lived, where they’d moved, the furthest back record showed very clearly that his family were full clan Gordon, hailing from Ballater in Scotland before travelling down to Edinburgh to seek better working opportunities.

There was enough information here for him to spend hours reading through, but he could feel his heart aching in his chest and he pulled out the shredded paper, to reveal a custom wooden shield with his clans sigil on it, ribbons of the handsome clan Gordon tartan decorating the edges of the shield and the proud stag head staring sternly at him.

Toshiro swallowed hard, bringing a hand up to wipe away tears before they threatened to spill. The ache in his chest was trying to force his legs to move, to move and to find Ichigo to make things better regardless of the fact that the strawberry would need time to himself. Toshiro flew from his room and Rangiku was already on her feet a large smile playing at her lips as she held up her car keys.

‘Are we going to find your boy?’

‘Yes,’ Toshiro straightened up and ran to his coat cupboard, pulling out a large white hoodie and throwing it on so he could perhaps avoid anyone who would recognise him from tonight’s interview with Jimmy Fallon. Not that he expected to run into many people at nearly 1am. The two of them left quickly and Rangiku started up the engine in her car while talking to him.

‘I called Ichigo while you were in the room, he answered-‘

‘What did he say?’

‘He basically confirmed everything that I said earlier, I think a huge part of him is wondering if he should let you go, that you’re perhaps too far out of his reach or that one day you will be and he’ll be left forgotten, I tried to remind him that you weren’t like that but he seems to have this feeling that you like him mostly for sex, when the hell was the last time you told this man how you felt?’

‘I-‘ Toshiro sat back in his chair, he could remember it had been the night that he’d fallen asleep with Ichigo at Rangikus, over two months ago. That had been the last time he’d told Ichigo how much he cared, it was no wonder that Ichigo had reacted this way. He swallowed back a lump and bit his lower lip, he had to make this right.

‘I know you’re not one for talking about emotions and feelings Toshiro and he knows that too but he needs something every now and again to know you care, something that he can hold onto so when you go on interviews and talk like that he knows in his heart without a shadow of a doubt that you don’t mean it.’

Toshiro fought back the lump in his throat, he needed Ichigo. He didn’t realise how much until just this very moment, he needed him not because he was gorgeous but because he was kind and loyal and supportive and caring and all the things he’d always needed in his life. Perhaps he hadn’t realised how much he had been falling for the older male but the dull ache in his heart told him that somewhere along the lines that was exactly what was happening.

‘I need to make this right, we need to find him.’ He choked out and Rangiku nodded, speeding up as she turned on the window wipers to clear the heavily falling snow. They drove up and down the possible streets he could have taken while walking back from Rangikus, straining through the snow for a glimpse of anyone who looked remotely like Ichigo.

‘STOP!’ Toshiro barked, his eyes locked onto the distinguished strawberry blond hair as Rangiku pressed down on the breaks, her car hadn’t even finished stopping before Toshiro had thrown himself out of the car, feet slipping on the fresh snow that had collected across the pavement.

‘ICHIGO!’ He shouted, the use of his name drawing the strawberrys attention instantly, the panicked voice of Toshiro cut through the tender snowy night like a knife and the older boy twirled around looking for the source as Toshiro ran towards him.

‘Toshiro?’ his voice sounded cracked, like he had been crying yet he didn’t sniff and Toshiro didn’t stop to see what kind of state his dishevelled boyfriend was in before he threw himself at him. Ichigo caught Toshiro because he realised if he hadn’t they’d both have been at risk of slipping and falling to the ground, still the small prodigy hit him like a bullet and heard a sharp intake of breath that would suggest he’d knocked the wind out the taller male. Small arms quickly wrapped around his neck and Toshiro crushed their lips together, as Ichigos hands worked their way around his diminutive body. He didn’t heat up the kiss as he usually did, but instead slowed it down, trying to calm his own breathing and heart rate at the same time, letting the dull ache in his chest subside slightly hopefully at the prospect he could make this all better. Toshiro could feel the snowdrops landing on his cheek and they were melting instantly with the heat and passion that coursed through his body as he clung to his boyfriend.

Soon Ichigo pulled back and bit his lower lip, Toshiro could see snowdrops in his hair and eye lashes and he looked tenderly into Toshiros eyes.

‘I’m so sorry Ichigo, I’ve never once stopped to think about your feelings in all this, you’ve always known mine, you’ve always known that I need physical attention and that I need to be touched to feel cared for but you, you need words, you need to be told and I haven’t done that.’ Toshiro could feel his eyes swimming with emotion, ‘I like you so much and tonight I thought that’d I’d – that there was possibility that I couldn’t see you again that maybe you’d want to break up and I-‘ Toshiro scrunched up his face and Ichigo pulled him into his chest a warm smile playing at the strawberrys lips.

‘I do care Ichigo,’ he mumbled into the older mans chest as Ichigo ran his hand soothingly through his hair, ‘I care about you so much and I don’t want any of this to come between us, I’d drop it all just to be with you.’

 

Those words hung in the silent crisp air for a while and Toshiro could feel Ichigos heartbeat which had picked up in his chest, he wasn’t sure what was going through his mind but Toshiro clung desperately to his chest, hearing as the taller mans heartbeat slowed down. _Thump, thump thump._ Finally Ichigo pulled Toshiro away and frantic teal eyes met warm melted caramel.

‘I know you care Toshiro,’ the strawberry smiled warmly and Toshiro blinked at him.

‘But how-‘

‘I knew the moment you called out Ichigo,’ the strawberry blond grinned at him and Toshiro smiled pleasantly back, leaning into his touch as the taller male cupped his cheek in his warm hand.

‘I don’t need much Toshiro I don’t need big declarations of anything, small things like using my first name, means so much more.’

Toshiro sighed contently, nodding making a strong mental note in the filing system of his mind to call Ichigo by his first name from now on.

The hand that had cupped his cheek was now guiding him to Ichigos tender lips and Toshiro met the kiss warmly, his hands stroking Ichigos back through his dark grey shirt.

‘Happy Birthday Handsome.’ Ichigo cooed against his lips as they continued to kiss in the snow.


	13. Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning! Fluff ahead!

The Christmas songs were blaring in the background and Ichigo was in high spirits, he and Toshiro had pretty much spent every night together since the whole Jimmy Fallon interview fiasco. Avoiding his apartment like the plague did mean there were extra paparazzi stalking him around the place to try and figure out where he was going, but since most of the time was spent at Rangikus the newspapers had nothing more to report except that the prodigy with no family was choosing to spend his birthday and Christmas with friends. Hardly newsworthy.

Most of the paparazzi were also off for the festive period celebrating with family of their own so it meant that Ichigo and Toshiro could slip outside and join Rangiku, Gin, Rukia and Renji in snowball fights in the street. Among being a prodigy when it came to books and business it seemed that Toshiro was also a manic snowball thrower, eventually it came down to just him and Rukia, neither wanting to give up and neither seeming to feel the cold harsh sting of the frost. Eventually cold and hungry the other four had decided to clamber back inside and leave the two who went at it for another hour.

What a Christmas Eve it had been, Toshiro and Rukia had come in at the back of 11pm at night while the rest of their friends sat around in ugly Christmas jumpers, sipping on large mugs of steaming hot chocolate. Apparently Toshiro had won it was evident from the foul mood that Rukia was in and the smugness that radiated off the boy genius. Gin simply instructed them to basically strip in the hallway so their damp and sodden clothes didn’t ruin the carpet of his living room and tossed them towels, they were both totally shivering and eventually Renji and Ichigo had to go and save them.

Ichigos high spirits remained as he brought a Christmas jumper and a pair of Toshiros comfortable dark blue cotton sweats for the boy to get changed into, he stood shivering in the hall the smugness momentarily forgotten as Ichigo had to help him get dressed, his small legs were shaking uncontrollably but he still managed a small fist pump in the air at his victory, the whole thing had been completely adorable.

‘What is that?’ Toshiro asked pointing to the blue jumper that Ichigo held in his hands. The strawberry boy grinned at his little lover.

‘It’s a jumper.’

‘I can see that…’ He narrowed his eyes, ‘why are you giving me a Mrs Weasley knitted Harry Potter jumper?’

‘Because I know how much you love Harry potter and it has a giant ‘H’ on it for Hitsugaya, so be quiet and hold still,’ Ichigo attacked the boy and pulled the jumper on over his head, trying to get the arms through the holes was difficult when the smaller male was putting up this much of a fight.

‘Complete ridiculous-‘

‘Says the prodigy who wears sweatpants?’

‘That’s different, they’re to sleep in-‘

‘It’s Christmas,’ Ichigo whined at him as he forcefully tugged the smaller males left arm through to the opening and he scowled at him, ‘there… see?’ Ichigo pursed his lips as he eyed the now clothed boy up and down trying to keep a smile from his face.

‘I look ridiculous.’

‘Actually you look adorable,’ Ichigo reached over and pulled the boy onto his lap on the stairs, everyone else was upstairs finishing off their hot chocolate they wouldn’t notice if Ichigo took a few moments to kiss his boyfriend, and kiss him he did. Toshiro leaned back and accepted the older males lips and shifted on his lap his ass wriggling across Ichigos member and earning a small groan from the taller strawberry. Toshiros tongue found its way into his mouth and Ichigo accepted it fully, playing and dancing with it between their open mouths, drawing more heat and passion into the kiss until-

‘STOP MAKING OUT! Your hot chocolate is getting cold.’ Rangiku threw a pillow down the stairs at them that Ichigo caught with reflexes that surprised even himself before grinning up at her.

‘Alright, _coming…_ ’ He chuckled and watched colour dance across his boyfriends face as he brought cold hands up to push against his chest. He let the ice prince slide off his lap and the two of them put his wet clothing over a radiator in the hallway before trudging up stairs. Well Toshiro trudged, Ichigo bounded. He absolutely loved Christmas, they made their way into the living room where everyone else was sitting in a massive pool of covers and pillows on the comfortable plush carpet while sipping away on their chocolate. Gin looked adorable in the little santa hat that he wore and his grin was unmistakable as he glanced over them.

‘Are you done making out?’ he teased and Ichigo just grinned, Toshiro turned his blushing cheeks into his boyfriends side, he still wasn’t used to all this intimate stuff in front of other people and honestly? It was one of his most endearing qualities.

Guiding Toshiro over to the bed of covers they settled down beside the table and sipped from their warm mugs, the TV was on playing the greatest Christmas hits in the background. Rukia was curled up into Renji and looked incredibly tired and as Ichigo watched Toshiro threw her a worried glance.

‘You know I did tell you to take a few nights off.’

‘I’m fine, I don’t need time off, you’re working just as hard as me if not more so.’ She scowled back at him and Ichigo studied Toshiros face thoughtfully as he contemplated, there was something going on here… something that his boyfriend wasn’t telling him. He could see it in those large teal eyes.

‘Just… make sure you take your time off alright? I don’t want to have to put your holidays through as overtime.’

‘How come you never encourage me to take my holidays Toshiro?’ Rangiku asked as she leaned across the table towards him and he scowled at her.

‘Because you always take your holidays at the start of the year and are never left with any come the end of the year.’ He scowled across at Rangiku who pouted at him.

Rukia shifted uncomfortably and drew both Renji and Toshiros worried gaze, Ichigo shot a glance across at Gin, the two of them hadn’t missed what was going on but Rangiku seemed oblivious.

‘Are you alright Rukia?’ Gin asked as he copied Renji and Toshiros worried glances at the girl who scowled back at them.

‘Fine, I guess it’s only a matter of time before you find out anyway,’ she sighed and leaned back, ‘I’m pregnant.’

There was a beats silence and then everyone tossed around their congratulations, Rukia was grinning from ear to ear and Renji looked proud as anything. It was an odd moment, Rangiku and Gin were engaged and now Rukia and Renji were expecting and here Ichigo was not even having told his family that he was gay. He must have appeared quiet and thoughtful as talk quickly turned towards names and genders and he realised that eventually a pair of worried looking teal eyes were staring at him.

‘Ichigo?’ the voice was susurrant and laced with concern, though the use of his first name still sent a little jolt to his heart as warm caramel eyes met his boyfriends.

‘Sorry, was just thinking of my family.’

‘You miss them.’ It wasn’t a question but Toshiro was simply pointing out the obvious. ‘I wanted to ask you something about that, and you can feel free to say no because I won’t be in any way offended, it was just an idea.’ Toshiro had fixed Ichigo with his ‘no nonsense’ stare that he reserved for when he wanted Ichigo to know he was being totally serious. ‘When you go to visit them in April, would you like me to be there to meet them in person? I know you’ve not told them anything yet but… I want to be there for moral support and I’d very much like to meet your family.’

‘Are you kidding?’ Ichigo couldn’t stop the crazy grin now spreading across his face, ‘of course, I’d love it if you came with me.’

Pleased with his answer Toshiro sat back on his hands and continued to stare at him, Ichigo could feel warmth pooling in the pit of his stomach. Even though they’d only been dating a couple of months he was so sure of his feelings for the smaller male he just didn’t want to voice them and risk chasing the man away.

‘MERRY CHRISTMAS!’ Rangiku called and the two boys turned around, someone outside in the streets had begun drunkenly chanting merry Christmas at the top of their lungs and it had drawn the groups’ attention to the fact it had just turned midnight. Hugs and kisses were shared and Rukia began dozing off in her boyfriends arms when they all finally agreed to go to bed.

The guest room had been made up for them and they’d already slept in it the last couple of nights, now Ichigo threw himself casually onto the bed as if it were his own home and reached out a hand for his diminutive boyfriend who was still standing by the closed door.

‘Toshiro?’

‘Would you like your gift now?’ Toshiro asked, he looked a little unsure but there was no mistaking the small smile around his lips as he asked and Ichigo blinked at him.

‘I thought we said we weren’t doing gifts?’

‘I lied.’ Toshiro shrugged and walked over to his bag he’d brought his stuff in and pulled out a couple of envelopes, handing them to Ichigo. The strawberry took them with a small smile and opened the first one that Toshiro instructed, it was two plane tickets to Oklahoma City and at first Ichigo seemed a bit confused, why would they be flying out to Oklahoma City at the start of April?

There was amusement present on his small boyfriends face as he encouraged the strawberry to open the others up. The next was confirmation documents of a motor home that was to be picked up in Oklahoma City and the final was flight tickets back from Santa Monica.

‘What… what is this?’ Ichigo was struggling to put the pieces of the puzzle together and Toshiro just smiled at him, crawling across the bed towards his boyfriend to point at each document in Ichigos hand.

‘I thought I’d ask first because otherwise I’d have given you the tickets to fly to Santa Monica yourself alone to visit your family, but I figured I was due some time off and we could make a road trip of it across route 66? So we fly out to Oklahoma City then we pick up the motor home that I bought and we can drive that to see your family and either leave it with them or just sell it second hand.’ Toshiro shrugged nonchalantly and Ichigo put the papers down to pin him against the bed.

‘Ichigo,’ he gasped and tried to escape as the Strawberry locked his lips onto his neck and began kissing and sucking at the flesh, ‘w-what are you?’

‘I get to go on a road trip to see my family with my amazingly sexy boyfriend, excuse me for being excited.’ He murmured into the white haired beauties neck, Toshiro seemed to relax a little, gasping as Ichigo continued his assault on his neck but otherwise stopped trying to wriggle free. Once their lips met they kissed until both were rock hard and panting heavily, neither of them really wanting to stop. Toshiros hand slipped below Ichigos own trousers and lightly grasped his member earning a gasp from the older boy.

‘T-Toshiro,’ he gasped as he reached over and pulled the smaller boy into his arms as his small and skilled thumb rubbed gently over the head of his erection.

‘Mmm?’

‘I n-need to give you your gift.’ Ichigo brought a hand down and gently clasped it around the smaller males hand, removing it from its wonderful place on the head of his aching member.

‘I thought you said we weren’t doing gifts?’ Amusement had seeped into his boyfriends tone and Toshiro brought Ichigos hand up and gently graced it with his lips. It was this side of Toshiro that Ichigo loved, the side that only he got to see the smouldering and beautifully caring side of the ice prince that was reserved for him alone.

‘It’s just a small one,’ he slipped off the bed and reached under it pulling out a perfectly square gift that wasn’t wrapped very well and handed it to him. Toshiro smirked at the wrapping but overall seemed surprised at the weight of the gift.

‘You’ve not bought me weights and are asking me to work out are you? Because I’ll never achieve a physique like _that.’_ He nodded at Ichigos clothed chest as he did so and Ichigo snorted at him.

‘As if, you know I think you’re flawless so just open the damn gift.’

‘You wrap this or did you let a 5 year old do it?’

‘Just shut up and open it.’

Complying the ice prince opened the gift and blinked in surprise as a bottle of his favourite Scotch whiskey was pulled out.

‘It has your date of birth on it, I thought it would make it a bit more personal.’

‘Thank you,’ Toshiro smiled across at him and gently placed the bottle on the side table before crawling back across to his boyfriend suggestively on the bed, ‘I’ll drink it tomorrow, but tonight… I think something else was on the menu.’ He tugged at Ichigos trousers and the strawberry blond couldn’t help but laugh at him.

 

* * *

 

 

The clock was stating it was now around 2am and they were both still awake, after their earlier activities clothing lay discarded all over the room and they now lay snuggled together in the darkness, the only light coming in from behind the curtains to the far left of the room. Ichigo was casually playing with Toshiros hand and fingers, interlacing them in his own and rubbing them gently as they spoke.

‘We should get some sleep,’ Toshiro yawned, turning his head into the Strawberrys chest to nuzzle down.

‘But sleepy Tosh is my favourite Tosh.’

‘Sleepy Tosh still doesn’t like being called Tosh.’

‘Just a little longer, I know he’ll come out to play.’ Ichigo could practically feel his boyfriend pouting into his chest and fought back a chuckle.

‘No, I’m going to sleep now,’ Ichigo prodded the boys side with a finger and listened to him gasp and try to get away from the older male, ‘oh god, don’t please don’t,’ he rasped as he scrambled for the other side of the bed. Ichigo laughed and rolled over to try and grab him, pinching his naked ass once an arm fully circled him.

‘You’re not going anywhere,’ Ichigo cooed in his ear and Toshiro whined trying to fight against the larger male.

‘Stop it, sleepy Toshiro doesn’t even make any sense!’

‘He speaks in third person, I think he’s funny.’

‘He is not, believe me I know I have to put up with him at late night in work alone.’

‘Let’s ask him, sleepy Tosh-’

‘Isn’t here, leave a message after the beep…. BEEP!’ Toshiro tried to hide under the covers and Ichigo tried to pull him back up laughing hysterically.

‘C’mon Toshiro, you’re so cute when you’re tired and you babble.’

‘Please stay on the line, your call is important to us.’

‘Toshiro,’ Ichigo lifted the covers and were met with a pair of wide but sleepy looking teal eyes.

‘Go away, Toshiro needs his rest.’

‘There he is,’ Ichigo grinned and reached down to cup Toshiros face in his hands, guiding him back up to meet his lips.

‘You taste funny,’ Toshiro mumbled against his lips.

‘It’s called toothpaste, you should try it sometime,’ that earned Ichigo a small slap to the top of his shoulder.

‘Stop keeping me awake,’ he whined and crawled up the bed, ‘do you know how much beauty sleep I need to look this good? #8 in the world remember.’ He huffed and Ichigo leaned over and pinched his ass again causing the boy to jerk into him and he caught him with an arm around his waist.

‘This is sexual harassment Ichigo,’ Toshiro said a small giggle appearing in his voice as he slipped into that half awake half asleep state.

‘You giggle when you’re tired.’

‘I do not giggle,’ he giggled a little again and tried to bite Ichigo to let him go, with a yelp Ichigo pulled his arm away and rubbed the spot he’d been bitten on. ‘Serves you right for pinching my ass.’

‘Your ass is just so pinchable.’

‘Your face is becoming rather punchable.’

Ichigo could hear a cross between a scowl and a giggle in the boys voice as he spoke and finally leaned over to stroke his arms.

‘Okay handsome you win, I’ll let you sleep now.’

‘Promise?’

‘I promise.’ Ichigo lay back and accepted the tired Toshiro into his arms once again and just as the boy was about to fall asleep Ichigo began singing ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’ loud enough to startle him awake again.

‘You’re not getting a blow job for a month.’ Toshiro hissed at him but Ichigo just laughed.

 

* * *

 

 

Ichigo started awake when he realised something was different, something warm and wet was pressing against his lips and when his eyes fluttered open he realised that Toshiro was kissing him, he took only a moment to respond and pressed his lips firmly back.

‘Good morning,’ Toshiro smiled against his lips and Ichigo groaned sitting up. He realised the boy was dressed in a fresh pair of blue jeans and the jumper that Ichigo had put on him yesterday.

‘Good morning, what time is it?’ he asked glancing around wondering why he was only now waking up. Toshiro almost always woke up before him so this was nothing new and he glanced over at the clock on the bedside table.

‘It’s only 9am, relax.’ Toshiro kept a pair of large teal eyes on him as he brought his legs around to sit cross legged on the bed in front of him. Ichigo spotted he was wearing a pair of thick fluffy Christmas socks and couldn’t stop a smile from forming on his face.

‘Rangiku got them for me,’ Toshiro sighed down at them, wriggling his toes as Ichigo reached out to run his fingers across the fuzzy material that made his boyfriends feet look super comfortable, ‘she thought they were cute.’

‘They’re fucking adorable,’ Ichigo laughed and pulled back the covers to get himself out of bed, ‘you’re in a really good mood this morning.’

‘I got laid last night, you should see my boyfriend, he’s kind of hot.’ Toshiro mumbled as Ichigo walked across the room stark naked to pull out a fresh pair of trousers and a shirt. His family had always taught him that on Christmas you dress well, the exception was ugly Christmas jumpers such as the one he’d forcefully put onto his boyfriend the night before.

‘You know I think I heard about this boyfriend of yours, I heard you were crazy about him.’ Ichigo played along standing up now to turn around towards the bathroom door and stopped to glance over his shoulder at Toshiro who was watching him with his head tilted slightly to the side.

‘Mmm, I mean… they’re just rumours after all.’ Toshiro muttered his eyes flickering from Ichigos lower region back up to his eyes.

‘That’s true, I’ll see you in a moment handsome,’ Ichigo grinned and went for his morning shower. When he came out feeling refreshed and clean he walked back into the room and Toshiro was gone, he figured to probably help Rangiku and Gin in the kitchen. He changed as quickly as he could and even though his hair was still damp he left the room to go and find everyone.

Gin didn’t trust Rangiku to cook, instead he was preparing the turkey and keeping Toshiro and Rangiku out the kitchen.

‘Do you not cook?’ Ichigo asked Toshiro as he snuck around to kiss his boyfriends cheek, glancing at Gin in the kitchen.

‘No, not really, I can make microwavable stuff but that’s about it.’

‘Do you need a hand Gin?’ Ichigo asked and watched the scrutinizing expression with which Gin regarded him before telling him to chop up the vegetables. Ichigos skill with a knife surprised Toshiro and Rangiku, his sister Yuzu had taught him how to cook properly before he went away to study and it had come in handy, he’d even picked up a lot of his own tips and tricks from watching Masterchef Australia.

‘You’ll make a perfect housewife one day Ichigo,’ Rangiku chuckled and smiled as Gin leaned across the bunker to kiss her. Ichigo grinned at Toshiro who flushed at the implications and then went to join Renji and Rukia in the living room where they’d started to put the Christmas movies on.

Gin and Ichigo worked well in the kitchen together, eventually everything was slowly cooking and smell of a beautifully basted turkey wafted through the house, Gin pressed a cold beer into Ichigos hand and the strawberry made his way into the living room to chill out with everyone else.

The couples snuggled down together and watched Elf, pausing every now and again so Gin and Ichigo could make their way back into the kitchen to baste the turkey.

‘Shiro you could probably go to the land of the elves and no one would expect anything.’ Renji teased and Toshiro threw him a death glare that Ichigo could FEEL from the kitchen.

‘Ohhhh... He’s an angry elf!’

 

The day went perfectly and they all sat down to a beautiful Christmas dinner, pulling crackers and laughing merrily as knifes and forks scraped against plates and the party began to grow a little tipsier all except Rukia who wasn’t drinking at all.

It was 7pm when they started to clear the table away, having sat down to dinner at 4pm and staying at the table to chat and drink. Everyone pitched in and told Gin to go and sit down and put his feet up since he’d done most of the cooking, then Ichigo got shooed out for the same reason. He lay down on the couch as a series of Christmas special of Friends episodes played on the television and was soon greeted by a very full and sleepy looking Toshiro. Gin went off to get some more beers and left the two boys lying on the couch together snuggled in each others arms.

Ichigo was smiling merrily and heard his boyfriend purr in content, the noise rather surprised Ichigo he’d never heard such a noise come from his boyfriend.

‘What was that?’

‘I’m just happy,’ he huffed beside him and Ichigo chuckled, running a hand up and down his arm.

‘Had a good Christmas?’

‘This is the first one I’ve celebrated since Gran got sick.’ Ichigo froze and wriggled around to meet his boyfriends teal eyes. ‘There was no point since she is the only family I really have, Momo has her own friends and we’ve never really seen eye to eye since the whole ordeal.’ Ichigo listened intently to him, his hand returning to their actions of stroking his arm lightly. ‘So this has been nice, to celebrate it properly with people I care about.’

Ichigo leaned forward and kissed him, ‘wait until you meet my family, they’re going to love you.’

‘Don’t be so sure, maybe they’ll blame me for your sexuality?’

Ichigo laughed, ‘you don’t know my dad, honestly, he will love you.’

‘I’m a bit nervous, I need to make a good impression.’

‘As if being a successful billionaire who is ranked #8 in the world as the sexiest man isn’t enough?’ Ichigo laughed at him and he smiled sheepishly and wriggled into his side.

‘Shut up, you know what I mean.’

‘I know they’ll love you don’t worry.’

‘Oi lovebirds.’ It was Renji and both Toshiro and Ichigo sat up to look around at him. Rukia was standing over them with mistletoe in hand.

‘I already got Rangiku and Gin,’ she chuckled and watched as Ichigo pulled his small lover close and sealed his lips with his own in a small tender kiss.

Once the boys broke apart everyone else had made their way back into the living room to watch another movie, this one a British romance movie set during Christmas called ‘Love Actually.’ Toshiro had wriggled over to the other side of the couch so he could lean against Ichigos chest and watch the movie while using him as a pillow, at some point Ichigo pulled a cover up over them and he wasn’t even aware when his full stomach and slightly alcoholic riddled mind lulled him into a deep comfortable sleep with his little beauty clutched delicately at his side.


	14. Road Trip Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some road trip goodness on the way to meeting the Kurosaki's

‘I can’t believe you have your own jet.’ Ichigo couldn’t keep the amusement from his voice as he gazed out the window down at all the tiny houses and land below them. He couldn’t believe the last four months had gone in so fast and now they were heading to start their long road trip together, he was excited and nervous to see his family again.

‘Does it really surprise you?’ Toshiro asked, his chair was not reclined like Ichigos was and instead he had picked up the remote to flick through the large flat screen TV while Ichigo took to pressing every button in his vicinity to see what it did.

‘What does that one do?’

‘That turns on the cold air.’

‘And that one?’

‘Turns on the hot air.’

‘This one?’

‘Why don’t you press it and find out?’ came the half amused, half exasperated sigh. Ichigo knew he was getting on his boyfriends nerves but he couldn’t help himself, he reached over and pressed the button and watched as a shutter descended down over the window.

‘Ohhh,’ Ichigo pressed the button beside it and it retracted back up. He went to press the third button to the left of this last one and-

‘DON’T TOUCH THAT!’

‘Why?’ Ichigo retracted his hand quickly and looked terrified at the rather innocent looking button, panic rising in his body, why place a dangerous button next to the window shutter?

‘Because it will make coffee and I’d rather have tea.’

Ichigo turned to glare at his boyfriends smug looking face, that look was one he’d have had to put up with in the past but not anymore. He dove forwards and instantly began to kiss the smug look right off his face.

‘Ichigo,’ Toshiro chuckled against his lips, bringing his hands up to push back against his boyfriends shoulders, ‘we’re not doing it on my jet.’

Ichigo hadn’t been intending for his advancements to have any other meaning than to just get rid of the smug look but now that he was so close to his boyfriend, leaning over the comfortable arm rest to get to him, he contemplated how fun it could be to fuck in the air.

‘Why not?’

‘Because…’

‘There’s no flight crew, just the pilot and co pilot and they cannot see us can they?’

‘They can… there are cameras,’ Toshiro hissed pointing to the cameras and Ichigo pouted. Having sex in the air would have been fun.

‘Next time,’ Toshiro mumbled leaning back over to capture his lips, Ichigo hummed his approval against his boyfriends lips. He knew it would only be a matter of time before the world found out about them anyway, but Toshiro quickly pulled back from the kiss and turned towards the TV, a frown gracing his face. Ichigo followed his gaze and grinned.

‘I love that commercial.’

‘I hate it.’

Toshiro had been roped into doing an advert for Hugo Boss, they had offered him payment which he declined, but they managed to rope him in by making a large sum donation to the charities researching dementia which Toshiro couldn’t say no to. Apparently he was worth a lot of money to the fragrance company and they donated a lot of money to hopefully help other people from having to go through the same thing he’d gone through.

Ichigo watched as his handsome boyfriend put on a white suit jacket and glance provocatively at the camera.

‘You’re a very good actor,’ Ichigo mused as he tilted his head at the advert, feeling his small boyfriend scowl from his side, it’s almost the same look you usually give me.’

‘No it’s not.’

‘It isn’t? It looks like it!’

‘The one I give you is real, that’s just good directing.’ Toshiro huffed, crossing his small arms across his chest and Ichigo grinned stupidly at him as they felt the jet incline to the side.

‘We’ll be landing in 20 minutes Mr Hitsugaya.’ A voice came over the loud speaker and Toshiro leaned forward and pressed a button talking into a small speaker.

‘Thanks Jim.’

 

The jet began its descent and Ichigo was almost flailing at how excited he was, he knew his boyfriend would never admit it but by the casual glances that Toshiro threw him the prodigy was just as excited as he was. Still Toshiro held onto that usual stoic expression of his, not letting anything slip as he tried to remain impartial, but he had his ‘tells’. One of them was the way the corner of his mouth twitched in slight amusement, the way he seemed to blink more often and the way he allowed his shoulders to relax from their usual uptight position. These were subtle signs that made Ichigo aware of his boyfriends’ excitement, they weren’t much, but they were enough.

Once the jet was back on solid earth they went about collecting their things. Toshiro quickly threw a hoodie on and a pair of sun glasses while Ichigo pulled on a cap to hide his orange spikes and a fake pair of glasses. It was poor disguises but since they’d sent someone to Russia who had been modelled to look like Toshiro they were not expecting any paparazzi to be sniffing about. They didn’t need to collect their own luggage from anywhere in the airport and could inconspicuously slip through it without being spotted. Most of the information had all been signed up under Ichigos name so Toshiro could keep back away from people while he did all the speaking, after all if he was recognised it wasn’t that big a deal since he could just state he was going to visit family. The chances of someone recognising that one guy that had been pictured beside Toshiro though was slim so they were fairly confident as they strode into the vehicle pickup place beside the airport.

Ichigo handed over the papers and his drivers licence and after a few minutes they were being led out to where the motor home was. It was glorious. Ichigo was in love. He’d sure as hell be keeping it.

It was modest in size, from the outside it just looked like a massive van, it was modern looking but otherwise modest in size, black with silver and red curling swirls that weren’t too sore on the eye. It had doors to get into the driver seats separate to the door to get into the main home part, yet once inside you could easily slide in and out between the two through a gap in the front two seats. The windows were tainted super dark so no one could see in but they could easily see out, meaning they wouldn’t have to hide themselves or what they were doing… because they were going to be doing a lot of things. When they were being shown how to operate it, the back part of the motorhome could slide out with a push of a button once they were parked up, it had the bed and though it created a dip in the centre there was a comfortable thin mattress they could roll up and throw over it so their asses didn’t fall into it. Directly behind the driver and passenger seat there was a breakfast table and a small comfortable leather sofa that looked like it’d been plucked from a booth at an expensive diner. Behind this area was a tiny kitchen area, it had a small cooker with only two stove heads, an over head microwave, a small silver sink, 3 overhead cupboards and a tiny built in fridge / freezer. The kitchen took up most of the space on the right and on the left was the door that lead outside and the bathroom which consisted of a toilet, sink and shower all cramped in. Ichigo pouted when he realised there would not be enough room for two in this shower.

There was a lot of storage in a hidden bottom part of the vehicle which could only be accessed from outside and inside they found fold away tables and chairs because the side of the motor home where the door was had a fold away tent like roof that could be pulled out to cover them if they choose to sit outside. There was internal Bluetooth stereo that they could link their phones too and two small TVs that would play the same thing, one in the bedroom mounted on the wall and one just above the little table behind the driver’s seat.

It was perfect. Once they were comfortably inside and Toshiro (the prodigy that he was) started to drive the home out of the busy city, Ichigo leaned over and kissed his cheek.

‘This is amazing,’ he said as he sat back, excitement building for their road trip that had just started.

Toshiro sat on the driver’s chair - which they’d had to crank up and move forward for him to both see and reach the pedals - looking very smug at Ichigos reaction.

‘We’re going to have to stop off at a small shop and you’ll have to dive in and get food before we go onto route 66, there wont be many places for us to stop, also we need diesel, I’d like a full tank before we start.’

‘Sure thing handsome,’ Ichigo said joyously as he pulled the aux cable out and plugged his phone in, swapping casually onto a play list that they’d made between them exclusively for this tip.

‘Do you know where you’re going then or should we use the GPS?’ Ichigo leaned towards the device on the dashboard as Toshiro snorted at him.

‘I’m pretty sure I know where I am going but go ahead and humour me anyway.’   
That meant he didn’t actually know where he was going, Ichigo thought to himself with a knowing smile as he started to play around with the device to ensure they wouldn’t end up on Route 77 going to the opposite way. As he fiddled with the device and was learning to work it, Toshiro pulled into a garage and Ichigo had to stop to hop out and fill the tank up, paying at pump with Toshiros platinum credit card. Toshiro took the motor home to park it up while Ichigo went into the store. He’d been instructed that Toshiro would text him a list as if Ichigo might forget something really important like milk or whiskey.

Filling the trolley with fruit and pausing to think about the fun they could have with a canister of whipped cream, his phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out.

 

_‘Get a bag of ice for the freezer, don’t buy all the pizzas, get two loafs of bread not 1, don’t forget the whiskey, don’t bother with cola just get the lemonade I’ll drink it with you and get more water than you think is necessary because we can store it in the bit below … read more.’_

Not bothering to click the part to read more, Ichigo just made a face at his phone and went about collecting all the stuff he wanted. Toshiro didn’t have to baby him he was an adult. He took two massive bottles of whiskey and decided to get some rum to mix with the lemonade, it was weird not having to budget or worry about money, such were the perks of having a billionaire boyfriend. He tried to think about the space of their tiny freezer and what would be the most substantial stuff for them to eat and store when he got to the frozen meats section.

Thinking that he’d done alright in terms of food he stopped off at the home section to pick up glasses, cups, plates and cutlery for the motor home as well as dishtowels and other necessary items. He stopped off to pick up a packet of tampons that he intended to throw at Toshiros head if he went in one of his moods. In Ichigos mind it would be hilarious even if it would leave the prodigy mad at him for a few hours.

He made his way over to the parked motor home and Toshiro jumped out to help load the stuff inside, they’d gotten more than enough water to last them and they were thankful for the extra storage space under the vehicle. Trying to watch Toshiro load the massive containers of water was really quite the sight to behold.

‘Lift with your knees,’ Ichigo instructed, trying not to laugh at the sight of the smaller man who had wheeled the trolley over to the motor home simply so he could use the first step inside to gain some height to tug the massive heavy load out.

With a tug and a sharp intake of breath Toshiro had successfully removed the container from the trolley but not before stumbling backwards and falling on his ass when the step tripped him. Trapped between the water and the floor he glared at Ichigo who was now doubled over and laughing hysterically.

‘You’re the one with the muscles, you’re meant to be doing the heavy lifting,’ his diminutive boyfriend snapped at him and Ichigo ran over to rescue him. Though the sight was funny he really didn’t want the boy to get hurt in anyway.

‘You were the one who said; “I can do it, I don’t need your help.”’ Ichigo reminded him as he pulled the bottle up with one hand and hoisted Toshiro to his feet with the other. Toshiro grumbled something under his breath, clearly still feigning anger but stayed outside to watch as Ichigo loaded the large containers into their new home on wheels anyway. Ichigo figured even though his boyfriend was pretending to be uninterested, he just liked watching Ichigo do anything remotely physical, so the strawberry took his time with it, lifting one of them up onto his shoulder and wrapping his arm around it before grabbing another with his other hand. He enjoyed that look in the wide teal eyes when he turned to glance at Toshiro, it was a bit possessive and lustful.

Once they were back in the vehicle that they’d named Rangiku then proceeded to have a laugh at the thought of them both being ‘inside’ Rangiku… which they both agreed never to tell her, they made their way towards Route 66 and the start of their actual journey together.

About three hours into their journey Ichigo realised this was the longest he’d ever spent with Toshiro driving and the prodigy was really good at it. After a couple more hours and once they were on the route that would take them all the way to Ichigos home, they decided to stop for a break and so they could swap out. Ichigo was thankful that Toshiro had taken the hardest part of the driving experience inside the city, the long roads of route 66 would allow him time to learn how to properly drive the large vehicle without crashing it.

‘Since you’re going to be driving next, I’ll just have a whiskey,’ Toshiro almost purred as he pulled the bottle from the cabinet.

‘Sometimes I think you like it more than me.’ Ichigo frowned at the way Toshiro almost tenderly held and stroked the bottle of pale brown liquid.

‘Don’t be absurd of course I don’t,’ Toshiro laughed pouring himself a glass, ‘I like you both equally.’

Ichigo rolled his eyes and plucked the bottle from his small boyfriend, holding it high in the air as he tried to get it back, he was holding the prodigy back with one arm.

‘You can get it when you kiss me.’

‘How about a kick instead?’ Toshiro scowled at him, his hands rising up and failing to reach the bottle.

‘Now, now,’ Ichigo leaned down and Toshiro glared at him then pecked him once very softly. ‘That was hardly a kiss,’ Ichigo frowned at him and shook the bottle warningly in the air and watched with delight as Toshiros teal eyes widened in fear.

Then two hands shot up to grab the fabric of his t-shirt and pulled him down, crashing their lips together. A wet tongue swiped at his lower lip and entrance was granted straight away as the offending organ wormed its way into Ichigos mouth, instantly pinning his own tongue and causing Ichigo to groan into the kiss. As the kiss began to heat up Ichigos defences were lowered and so did his arm, subconsciously. Clearly not as invested in the kiss as he seemed Toshiro pulled back with a wicked grin on his face waving the whiskey bottle in his tiny hand, Ichigo started, when the hell had he taken the bottle? He hadn’t felt it leave his grip at all. The strawberry tried his best not to pout at the idea that the prodigy had only really been after the whisky after all.

Toshiro poured himself a glass and the two of them went to sit out beside the side of the road. The landscape was totally different here, away from the massive buildings of New York City where you could hardly see the sky this land was flat and almost barren, small stubby pale yellow grasses and the occasional tussock was about all that could survive here. Ichigo would have sworn he’d never seen so much sky in all his life it was almost a little daunting but somehow strangely beautiful. The sun was just beginning to set, turning the sky behind them into a faded gradient of different hues, ranging from a darker blue to purple to green to yellow to pale light blue again, the one solitary cloud crawling across the sky in search of comrades it would never meet.

‘It seems strange coming from such a large city to a place like this doesn’t it?’ Ichigo asked when he was reminded neither of them had spoken to each other in the past 10 minutes or so. Not that he felt the need to fill every possible silence, he was at a stage in his relationship now where silences could be a comfortable affair.

‘It does,’ Toshiro hummed, the only sound then was the occasional tinkle of ice on glass as the prodigy rose the glass to his lips for a drink before lowering it again.

Ichigo decided to take this moment to marvel at his boyfriend, since he hadn’t done it to a decent enough standard in the past 24 hours. Toshiro was sat in one of the comfortable foldaway chairs, his body relaxed enough that he was slumped down a little in the seat, a sight only Ichigo ever got to see. To everyone else Toshiro was the strong boss, the head, the big shot CEO and he would _never_ slouch. When the doors were closed though, or when there was only Ichigo to bare witness, the prodigy did indeed relax enough to let his body slump, just as he was doing at this moment. He was wearing a comfortable plain white t shirt and pale sky blue jeans with a pair of black DC shoes. That’s right… his boyfriend wore trainers, but only in front of Ichigo and Rangiku, he’d never admit his love for the more comfortable and flexible shoes to anyone but them. Ichigo watched as Toshiro rose the glass to his lips again, his eyes never needing to look down to know exactly where his lips were. His adams apple bounced as he took a gulp of the liquid and his body gave a little shudder against the heat that would obviously be engulfing the back of his throat.

Ichigo smiled at the sight, this boy was his and he was so fucking lucky to have him. The strawberry would never grow tired of marvelling at his beauty, for with Toshiro it wasn’t an obvious beauty, there was a young harshness there to be enjoyed, weather it was the sharpness of his chin or high cheek bones, the stark contrast his teal eyes had against his pale skin or the harsh flare of his startling white spikes adored atop his head, there really was some magical breathtaking beauty there that begged to be admired twice a day at least. Toshiro would no doubt know that Ichigo was staring at him, in the beginning when Ichigo would get caught he would sheepishly try to pass it off as if the prodigy had something on his face or he was looking _behind_ Toshiro and not directly at him. Within the last few months however Ichigo had grown comfortable enough with himself and their relationship that he would just openly stare and Toshiro would politely ignore him as he did it.

‘It’s so quiet…’ Toshiro mumbled finally breaking the silence that had stretched out against the coming evening and Ichigo strained his ears to try and hear something, anything.

‘Yeah,’ he mused finally turning away from prodigy to glance back out over the scenery, ‘it is.’

The delicate silence was broken by Ichigos phone and the two almost jumped at the loud noise as it buzzed against the table. Ichigo picked it up and glanced at the number and Toshiro saw Ichigos look and nodded his understanding. The prodigy was to remain silent.

‘Hey Dad,’ Ichigo smiled as he put the phone on loudspeaker and on the table so they could both hear what he was saying.

‘Hey son,’ came the enthusiastic reply from the other end of the phone, ‘what time do you want me to pick you up from the airport?’

‘Remember I told you I was driving Dad? We’re taking route 66.’

‘”We’re?”’

‘Yeah remember I said that I was bringing a friend,’ Ichigo frowned and mentally tried to remember if he’d just dreamed the entire conversation with his father or perhaps his father had just been drunk when he’d called.

‘Oh yes I remember something like that vaguely, well hurry up! I want to meet this friend of yours, is it a girlfriend?’

‘ _No_ ,’ Ichigo mumbled in such a way that Isshin must have caught on to something in his sons voice.

‘Is it a boyfriend?’ there was no harshness behind his words, instead there was a gentle sort of almost teasing like acceptance and Ichigo choked on his own tongue as Toshiros teal eyes went wide, staring between the phone and then to Ichigo.

‘What? NO!’ Ichigo barked back quickly and scowling, ‘I just, I want to talk to you about something first before I introduce you.’

‘Boyfriend, I called it.’ Isshin boomed with laughter down the phone and Ichigo felt himself flush as Toshiro stared with his mouth agape. ‘I get it though you want to talk face to face about this all and you’ll probably keep denying it anyway so before you say anything I can hear I’m on loud speaker and no doubt your significant other is probably there. If you’re a woman I’m sorry, I don’t naturally assume my son is gay but you’ll understand why I have those reservations since you’ll have been in his company enough to see his idiosyncrasies that would lead one to think that way. If you’re a male however… please don’t worry about meeting me I’m very accepting of whomever my son chooses to date.’

‘Dad!’ Ichigo hissed, his voice carrying a pleading tone as his father laughed at him, ‘can I just talk to you when I see you? Don’t mention anything to Karin or Yuzu yet I want to surprise them when I get there.’

‘Alright son, safe travels, keep me posted on your whereabouts I will see you soon.’

He hung up the phone and Toshiro was just staring wide eyed at him and then burst into laughter.

‘Well my mind is clear,’ Toshiro chuckled, ‘it sounds like all the fear I’ve been having about the possibility of meeting your family was never even required.’

‘Oh well, I know my father I love him to bits, but he’s strange. Honestly? I’m more worried you won’t like him than the other way around.’ Ichigo sighed, the flush still on his face, he should have known his father would have guessed something was up with the way he’d been talking recently and casually avoiding telling his father what he’d been doing in spare time.

‘What do you mean?’ The prodigy asked, finishing off his whiskey, a large smile still on his face from the call.

‘He’s very strange, after this many years putting up with him I’m still not even sure that I like him.’ Ichigo joked with a chuckle and a shake of his head. With Toshiro finished his whiskey they decided it was time to get back on the road, Toshiro instructed Ichigo very lightly and the entire vehicle felt different, but other than that it didn’t take Ichigo long before he was driving like a pro, he was almost embarrassed he’d been worrying so much about taking his turn now.

Toshiro sat comfortably on the large passenger chair, he’d brought a throw blanket through from the bedroom and wrapped it around himself as they drove in the darkness of the night, the headlights on the road was literally their only focus for a long time as they chatted absently about work and the news. They’d agreed that they’d stay on the road until 11pm so neither one of them was too tired to be able to drive the next day. Though Toshiro had promised to stay awake until then the prodigy passed out shortly before 10:30pm, his words had slurred just before it and he’d turned to face Ichigo in his chair, when finally his eyes closed and his breathing evened out.

Ichigo stole casual glances at the sleeping boy, because he was usually the first to wake up it was rare for Ichigo to enjoy a sight such as this and the innocent look on the young mans face was something to behold. At 11pm, Ichigo pulled off at the side of the road, ensured all the doors and windows were locked and came back through the front to lift Toshiro out of the seat. It was a bit difficult to manoeuvre but the younger boy barely weighed anything and so Ichigo was able to carry him with ease even when he had to duck and pivot his way through to the back. After placing the passed out boy on the bed, Ichigo set about removing his shoes and unbuttoning his jeans, Toshiro stirred slightly as Ichigo went about pulling them off his body leaving him in his t shirt and boxers before stripping down himself and climbing into bed beside him, pulling him in for a cuddle. It felt odd to be out in the middle of nowhere and about to go to sleep, Ichigo had seen his fair share of horror movies and his mind took a long time to settle down. The natural noises of the motor home he’d not yet grown accustomed too and so every now and again he’d stir before figuring out what the noise was and settling back down again. He felt rather protective of the smaller male beside him as well and his basic instinct to protect the boy seemed to be above his need for sleep. He knew it was well after 1am before he finally started to doze off, happy that no mutant aliens were coming for them and that the motor home was not haunted.

Toshiros steady breathing was a comfort to him and it didn’t take long for Ichigo to fall asleep once he’d started to count those delicate breaths.

 


	15. Road Trip Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh they're nearly there.... ;D

They’d been on the road for a couple of days now, they should technically have been a lot further forward than they actually were but they both kept getting distracted by sights, food and of course each other. Though the road trip made it pretty difficult for the two of them to have actual sex, there had been one point where Toshiro was driving that he’d managed to skilfully receive head and orgasm without losing control of the entire vehicle.

They knew a few people had recognised them about the towns and small places they’d stopped to eat but thankfully not enough to report anything because Rukia had not been in touch with any major news regarding the twos travels, as far as the wider world was aware Toshiro was still in Russia.

Ichigo had found something out about his boyfriend that he didn’t know before, the boy couldn’t cook to save himself, a prodigy in most other departments but it seemed he wasn’t in the kitchen.

‘How do you survive living on your own?’ Ichigo asked as they swapped stations for Ichigo to cook while Toshiro drove.

‘Microwave meals but mostly I’d just order in, I was almost always working late in the office anyway.’ He muttered as Ichigo began cooking them a decent meal. Ichigo bit his lower lip, he’d not admit how much he enjoyed cooking for the other male or how much it brought up beautiful pictures of married life in his head with Toshiro coming home after work and Ichigo having dinner ready for him.

‘Well thank God Yuzu taught me, otherwise we’d be a bit stuffed wouldn’t we?’ he asked as he started on another home cooked meal in the tiny kitchen.

‘Yeah what are we having?’ just as he asked it his stomach made a loud noise and Ichigo laughed at him as he continued cutting vegetables.

‘I was going to just do a bolognaise pasta dish considering it won’t take too long.’

Toshiro hummed his approval while Ichigo went about making the dinner. They were driving through Arizona now and were heading to Flagstaff where they’d hopefully be for night time, it was one of the best places to see the stars and they had a clear night tonight to see them. In preparation they’d bought a blow up mattress because Ichigo was determined to sleep under the stars or at the very least to lie under them for as long as they could before they got too cold.

Toshiros stomach started to make more and more noises the moment the food was left cooking on the stove under the watchful eye of Ichigo, he’d call over his shoulder any warning if he was due to turn and Ichigo would make sure nothing fell over.

Soon he was telling Toshiro to pull over with perfect timing because due to lack of traffic they’d arrived in Flagstaff just as they were about to sit down to dinner.

Toshiro excitedly bounced around outside getting the tables and chairs set out for a meal as the sun was dipping on a slow descend in the distance. Ichigo couldn’t stop the smile on his face as he took the plates of food outside, Toshiro jumping back in to grab the whiskey since they were going to setup camp here for the night. They’d found themselves a little stretch away from the road and of course used the motor home to shield them from the road sight as much as they could.

‘I can’t get over how good your cooking is,’ Toshiro sighed at Ichigo as the strawberry drunk down his beer. They were just finishing up the meal and then Ichigo would clean up considering Toshiro was doing most of the driving throughout the day.

‘Don’t forget that, I’d make a very good housewife Mr Hitsugaya.’ Ichigo chuckled as he picked up his boyfriends plate stopping only to peck him on the cheek and watch him blush and mumble into his whiskey. Just as they’d done several times already on this trip they watched the sun begin to set in the distance from where they sat chatting away about some of the stops they’d taken so far. They had planned to stop off and see the Grand Canyon but looking at their schedule they wouldn’t have the time.

‘Another time,’ Ichigo confirmed as he felt the alcohol start to take effect. His boyfriend rarely shared his whiskey so when they’d stopped off at another town Ichigo picked up his own beer, but that still didn’t stop Ichigo from stealing sips of whiskey from the prodigy’s glass whenever he’d go back inside for the toilet. They had a small old fashion radio sitting on the table and were listening away to Dj’s bantering about who was hotter, Rhianna or Beyonce, it was mostly just background noise as Ichigo was blowing up the blow up bed and Toshiro sat and made passing comments about how he’d never put that much effort into sucking him off before.

‘I don’t need too because you don’t take that much effort to come handsome.’ Toshiro made a face at him and narrowed his eyes.  

Soon the bed was blown and the covers were out they were settling themselves down just in time as the stars started to come out. Ichigo had lit one candle to sit on the table as if trying to create a romantic setting but really as the night continued to fall the stars were doing that for him, they were out on full force.

‘I can’t believe I’ll be meeting your father soon, what if he doesn’t like big business men.’

‘You’re not big.’

‘Size doesn’t matter Ichigo,’ Toshiro scowled at him and the Strawberry leaned over with a grin and pecked him once on the cheek, then again on the jaw and then again a bit lower, Toshiro hummed his approval and tilted his head to the side to give Ichigo more room.

‘I know what we could do tonight.’

‘It’s a little chilly don’t you think?’

‘I’ll heat you up.’

Toshiro was making content noises at the back of his throat as Ichigo continued to kiss down it and stopped to offer the smaller male a grin.

‘I think we should remove some clothing.’

‘You go first.’ Toshiro mumbled and Ichigo just smiled as he sat up, taking the covers with him and causing Toshiro to shudder a little as the cold night air hit his smaller body. The strawberry took his time lifting his top up over his head and threw it to the bottom of the bed somewhere as Toshiro merely stared at him, as he always did. His small cold hands came up to gently explore Ichigos muscles and he closed his eyes at the feeling, grunting a little as those tiny fingers made their way over his cold nipples.

Soon Toshiros top was joining his at the bottom of the bed along with his belt and Ichigo pulled the covers back over them.

‘Do you have lube?’ Toshiro asked as Ichigo returned to kissing his neck.

‘Yeah it’s hidden in the pillowcase.’

‘Smooth,’ the white haired man chuckled and Ichigo grinned against his neck, he tried to slow them down. He didn’t want this to be the hot heavy aggressive sex that they usually had but he wanted it to be tender and with a bit more care. He needed Toshiro to know how he felt without using words that might scare him off, so Ichigo took his time kissing and sucking at his throat, dipping under the covers to apply delicate kisses all over his chest and stomach.

‘Ichi,’ he sighed in content somewhere above him and Ichigo smiled into his stomach, he’d never grow bored of being able to just kiss the man whenever he wanted, never grow bored of his taste or scent, never grow bored of the way he twitched at his touches or the way his name sounded coming from his lips. It was times like this that Ichigo realised he was falling in love with the man, completely and utterly and he didn’t want to do a single thing to stop himself.

He was now kissing around the waistband of the boys’ jeans and boxers and Toshiro was spreading his legs invitingly for him. He knew eventually they’d have to come out of the covers to properly continue, so he lifted back the cover and exposed them to the cold air earning a hiss from the prodigy.

‘I know handsome I know, I promise I’ll heat you up soon,’ he leaned back over him and pressed his body flush against his to pull him in for a kiss, it was sweet and tender but still warmed the two of them up. Ichigo drew Toshiros lower lip into his mouth to give it some gentle attention, lightly running his tongue along the plump lip and sucking it. As his lips were busy his hand stroked down the boys torso and back to his jeans where he began to stroke the bulge through his trousers causing him to groan and buck his hips into Ichigos hand, desperate for friction.

 _‘Ichigo…_ ’ he groaned and the strawberry sat up, slotting himself in between his boyfriends legs once again and lifting his ass up from the mattress to gently massage it, he dipped his hands in under the boys jeans and boxers and earned approving noises from the prodigy whose head was tilted back with his eyes closed. Ichigos hands continued their kneading of the perky flesh until he was sure that the two globes were pink and relaxed. Then he reached around the front to pop the buttons and zipper and sat back to help the boy out of them. It was always a treat seeing the mans beautiful erection springing free from the confides of his jeans and Ichigo got the satisfaction of knowing that he and he alone was the exact reason the boy was so damn hard. The sight always made his own stomach clench with arousal as he leaned over and began to run a finger up the delicate organ, it twitched with need as it always did and Ichigo smiled smugly as he lay a set of tentative kisses up the same path his finger had just taken, causing a soft sigh to escape the prodigy’s mouth. His tongue circled the head once, dipping into the slit then he was engulfing it and this earned a loud deep throaty moan from the prodigy. He didn’t go to fast, knowing exactly the right amount of pressure that was required to have the boy squirming but not coming too quickly, he wanted this to last.

‘ _Oh gods, Ichigo_ ,’ Toshiro moaned, his cheeks flushed with arousal as he glanced down at the sight between his legs, Ichigo was watching him as he looked down and he could feel those giant teal orbs bore into him. Ichigo knew he was in love with the man, of course he was how could he not be? It had been all the stupid things that had led him to finally accepting it, the way Toshiro would look when he was being cute and annoyed, the way he’d run his fingers through his hair when he was thinking, the way he could drink whiskey like it was water. There were just so many amazing things to love about this man and Ichigo loved them all.

Ichigo reached up to the askew pillow he’d been resting his head on earlier and dragged it down while his mouth continued its work, from inside he pulled out the bottle of lube and popped the lid, letting go of the mans erection for a moment to delicately coat his fingers. Toshiro watched with long deep breaths tearing from his mouth and sighed laying down flat against the mattress and spreading his legs wider. Ichigo loved this about him too, the way he’d spread himself so invitingly and unashamed before the strawberry, it was honestly mouth watering. He reached down under him as he gently took the head of the mans erection back into his mouth and circled his tight entrance with a slicked finger, bracing him for what about to happen next. The finger made it in without a worry, a soft groan tearing from the owners mouth in retaliation of the intrusion.

‘Are you alright?’ Ichigo asked around his cock and the boy nodded.

‘Your fingers just cold,’ he hissed back and Ichigo laughed, the boy was tight and warm and the feeling of those familiar muscles relaxing was making Ichigos pants tighter in comparison. He gently pumped the finger a few times before removing it and adding a second, earning a low throaty moan from the man which allowed Ichigo the confidence to explore a little more. He knew exactly where the mans prostate was and he was an expert in finding it now, still he stayed away from it for a while as he was scissoring his fingers and carefully stretching the muscles readying them for something larger. When he added the third finger he gave a particularly hard suck on the boys member and the conflicting pain and pleasure earned a few twitches and surprised gasps from the man.

‘ _Ichigo… please…._ ’ he panted from somewhere above and Ichigo finally let go of his member and curled his fingers towards the boys known pleasure spot. ‘ _Oh my god_ ,’ he’d grabbed his pillow and arched his back beautifully from the mattress and Ichigo watched with content as a shiver raked up and down the body, the muscles tightening around his fingers as he pulled back and did it again. ‘ _Fuckkkkk, Ich-Ichigo!_ ’ he groaned and wriggled under the strawberry his breathing now accelerating and coming out in gentle pants.

 _‘Please, I want you now_ ,’ he groaned as he looked back down and Ichigo was pumping the fingers. His own mind was completely clouded by lust and when he removed his fingers from the man the small whimper from his lips caused Ichigo to look up at him. He wanted to push in this time while keeping eye contact with the man, he didn’t want him looking away or closing his eyes in pleasure as he usually did at this moment.

‘I want you to look at me as I push inside,’ Ichigo instructed and Toshiros teal eyes blinked up at him but otherwise he nodded. Ichigo hastily removed his jeans and boxers and coated himself in lube, grabbing the boys’ legs and leaning over him as he positioned himself at his entrance. Toshiro was licking his lips, then when Ichigo started to push into the tight entrance the prodigy almost closed his eyes, clearly remembering Ichigos words they opened back up again to watch him.

Ichigo could see a lot of emotions in them, lust, arousal, pain, pleasure, care there was so much going on that he had to wonder why he hadn’t forced the boy to do this before. Most of the time Ichigo was fine with him closing his eyes as it was his way of dealing with all these emotions and helping him to not focus on any pain or discomfort but this was really a treat, one he wanted to do again. He was sure Toshiro was seeing a lot of emotions reflected back in his own hazel eyes, his care for the boy his lust for him and just how much pleasure he was feeling as those tight muscles continued to suck and pull him deeper inside, welcoming him like an old friend until he was completely balls deep inside the prodigy. The muscles were clamping and relaxing around him and the heat was amazing, he could feel a shiver rack up his spine and he let out a shuddering breath, leaning down to kiss the smaller man below him.

‘You feel amazing,’ Ichigo breathed against his lips and the boy sighed in content and ran the tip of his nose delicately across Toshiros jaw.

‘So do you,’ he mumbled back and Ichigo felt his lower lip being nibbled by the man as he set about setting a beautifully slow rhythm for them. He knew the smaller male needed things to be a bit faster in order for Toshiro to orgasm but he didn’t put up any objections to the speed as Ichigo went about adding some tender loving care to their love making. He was pulling out and pushing in while kissing him, their mouths moving in time with their thrusts and eventually Toshiro whimpered into the kiss.

‘ _Ichigo…_ ’

‘I know… faster?’

 _‘Yes_ ,’ he gasped and Ichigo smiled to himself, running his nose down his neck and taking in his delicious scent now that the sweat had began to accumulate on their bodies. He started with a faster rhythm, earning beautiful noises from his boyfriend whose hands had begun to claw at the discarded covers, Ichigo reached down and hitched his legs up a little higher as he continued his thrusting, moulding the boy into a position where he could reach his prostate. Sensing what was coming a mewl of approval worked its way out the delicately parted lips of the man, his eyes closed tightly and his head tilted back exposing a vast surface area of beautiful milky white flesh begging to be kissed and bitten. Ichigo thrust into him deep, hitting his prostate head on and leaning down to plant a tender kiss on his throat as the genius’ hands clawed at his back and a loud moan broke the silence of the night around them

Ichigo continued, pulling out and thrusting back in, soon Toshiro was practically sobbing, begging for his release and Ichigo had to bite his lower lip hard to try and stop himself from coming before his partner.

 _‘Ichigo, I-I can’t I’m… so close…’_ he panted and Ichigo groaned his approval, reaching down between them to gently pump at his length as he rose to capture the boys’ lips. One final thrust back in and the boys moan was swallowed into Ichigos mouth as Toshiro came hard between them, Ichigo followed almost exactly the same time inside him groaning into the kiss as their mouths opened wide to pant. They stayed like that for a while, mouths open, centimetres away from each other drinking in the same air before Ichigo felt like he had the strength to pull out. Toshiro whimpered at the loss inside him and Ichigo went about trying to clean the mess as best he could with the baby wipes they’d felt the need to purchase.  

Ichigo was so taken up by the task at hand so he could get the covers back over them that he hadn’t noticed Toshiro staring at the sky.

‘It’s so beautiful,’ Toshiro soon mumbled, his breath came out in a rasp and it was clear he was shivering. Ichigo paused for a moment to stare at him, the way the moonlight was reflecting in his large teal eyes and making his hair look even whiter, the way it bounced off his milky white flesh that was still glistening with sweat.

‘Yeah, beautiful,’ Ichigo mumbled as Toshiro turned to him, a deep pink dusting his face.

‘Not me you idiot the sky,’ he mumbled and Ichigo just chuckled completely unashamed before turning his attention up towards the stars, it really was breathtaking and they could actually see the milky way out here. The strawberry pulled the covers back over them and Toshiro snuggled up against him, his body was freezing cold but Ichigo was on fire so provided perfect warmth for Toshiro to heat himself up. Ichigo contented himself with tracing delicate patterns across the beautiful left cheek of his smaller lover, taking care to stay away from his entrance in case he got turned on again. Though Ichigo felt fine he knew they’d both be too cold to go at it again, so he’d trace circles then go down around his thigh and back up again as they lay gazing at the stars above them.

‘I’m really glad I came, I needed this,’ Toshiro mumbled to him and Ichigo smiled, it was clear the boy was getting very tired.

‘I know, I’m glad you did too, I’m glad you asked to come because honestly this has been one of the best experiences of my life.’ The two of them seemed to agree as they continued to stare at the stars and Ichigo felt very small. In retrospect he was nothing more than a piece of sand in a beach as large as an ocean, all his concerns suddenly seemed so small and he wondered if Toshiro was feeling the same, he’d turned to the man to ask but his gentle breathing assured Ichigo that he’d already fallen asleep.

‘Goodnight handsome, very soon you’ll meet my family and you’ll know what crazy really is.’ Ichigo was nervous, he knew his father would of course be accepting but he was still nervous that the two wouldn’t get along. His father was a bit mental and though it would be really good to see him again he felt uneasy, it was hard to bring two things you loved together to see just what they thought of each other. Ichigos hand continued its gentle stroking, tracing patterns across the boys’ bare skin and letting the motions calm him, his boyfriend’s deep steady breathing doing the same as he considered the possibilities of what would happen if something went wrong. Mostly he was just worried his family would embarrass him so much that Toshiro would never want to see him again, or that he wouldn’t be able to show his face in the office again… oh god… what if his father brought out the family photo album. Just that thought alone Ichigo felt his entire face flush and a groan bubbling at the back of his throat, he brought a hand up to hide his face and his diminutive boyfriend stirred in his arms.

‘I…go?’ he mumbled and Ichigo hummed an apology.

‘Sorry handsome, go back to sleep,’ his fingers were still tracing those patterns on his boyfriends thigh and he sighed contently and seemed to drift back off again.

Okay as soon as they made it to the family home, Ichigo was going to hide that family album book… or burn it.

 

 

* * *

 

They didn’t last through the night at about 2am Toshiro was shivering half asleep against Ichigo and the strawberry made the sound decision to take things inside. He slipped out of the covers to open the door, he was too cold to sleep anyway as he quickly threw some clothes on Once the door was unlocked and open Ichigo walked over and took the undercover to wrap it around Toshiros naked body as he quickly lifted him up and carried him inside. He stirred a little as the cold hit him and snuggled into Ichigos warm chest as he was moved.

‘Where are we going?’ he asked, clearly only half awake and Ichigo chuckled and bit his lower lip.

‘Narnia.’

‘Tell Aslan I don’t want to fight,’ he mumbled as his head rolled onto Ichigos shoulder and the strawberry smiled fondly at him as he placed him down in bed. He instantly put the heater on in the room and walked back outside to gather all their stuff up, bringing it inside and shutting the door to lock it. He was so tired but Toshiro was always the one to wake up early and take the first shift of driving, considering Ichigo was not much of a morning person at all, so the strawberry always took over after lunch time and would drive until dinner.

Ichigo pulled off his top and trousers and slid – naked – back into bed beside the smaller man who instantly snuggled up to him and breathed out a sigh of relief as if he were dreaming about something. Ichigo smiled and pulled him close and closed his eyes. He could feel the last of the cold quakes leave his body as he started to drift off to sleep.

 

Toshiro woke and Ichigo could feel movement on the bed, he stirred awake too and turned to look at the sight of two large beautiful and confused looking teal orbs.

‘When did we get back inside?’

‘You were shivering at about 2am so I just carried you back in,’ Ichigo mumbled and watched as Toshiro seemed to blush, he wasn’t a big fan of being treated like a child and being carried to bed asleep was very much something an adult would do to a child. Ichigo didn’t care though, he wasn’t going to wake the sleeping beauty when he could easily carry him. Ichigo closed over his eyes and gave a deep tired sigh that seemed to set Toshiro on the right path.

‘Sorry I’ll let you get back to sleep,’ he moved out of the bed covers and Ichigo opened his eyes, he wasn’t going to miss that beautiful little ass flitting about the room until he put a pair of clean boxers on. His eyes watched it for as long as it was on show then as soon as the boxers were pulled on he closed his eyes again with a small smile on his lips and rolled over to go back to sleep. If it were time for Toshiro to rise then that meant it was 8am at the latest… he normally woke any time between 6am to 7am but his long lies were considered to be around 8am.

Ichigo drifted off not long after they started to move again, he could feel the gentle sway of the vehicle as he was drifting in and out of sleep, when he woke up for a second time he realised it was almost 10am. Groaning and realising he’d slept far too long he got up and pulled on a pair of boxers and jeans only, making his way through to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Feeling a little fresher he made his way to the front of the car and dropped into the passenger seat.

‘Good morning,’ he mumbled as he leaned over and his boyfriend turned to peck him. Toshiro turned back again as his eyes flickered between the road and his partly naked boyfriend.

‘Are you trying to distract me from the road because it’s working?’

‘Not at all,’ Ichigo grinned bringing one leg up onto the chair and leaning an arm over it as he glanced over to the GPS, they were only a couple of hours away from his home now and he could feel his stomach clench as the nervous excitement bubbled in the pit of his stomach.

‘Seriously Ichigo put a shirt on, you’re distracting me.’

‘Do you want another front seat blowjob to help?’

Toshiro groaned and spread his legs a little provocatively as he licked his lips but shook his head, ‘no we’re going to be coming into the city soon and it’s already not a clear straight road, I can’t endanger other drivers so please go and put a shirt on.’ Ichigo laughed as he stood up and called back to his genius boyfriend;

‘It’s not my fault you cannot yet control your hormones.’

Toshiro threw something at him.

 

Fully clothed and sitting eagerly on the passenger seat Ichigo was trying to calm the two of them down, they’d rolled down the windows and were playing their music to try and appease the nerves that had built up as Ichigo phoned his father.

‘That’s us about an hour away,’ he said down the phone, thanking the fact they’d planned so well and it was a Sunday so the family would be home for their visit. Isshin thanked them for letting him know, squealed like a little girl and instantly set about tidying the house up for his visit. Ichigo had to hang up because it seemed like Isshin had plum forgot to do it.

‘They sound mental,’ Toshiro laughed and Ichigo sighed, his boyfriend would either love them or dump him.

‘Yeah they are,’ he replied and shook his head as they rounded the corner onto a familiar street. This was it, they were really going to do this.


	16. Meet the Kurosakis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was far too much fun to write...

It was agreed that Ichigo would go in first and see his family before bringing Toshiro in to meet them. They’d parked around the corner so that Toshiro could chill in preparation for meeting them, he’d just stuck the TV on and worried about what he was going to wear when Ichigo left.

Ichigo walked around the corner towards the house and sighed as he knocked on the front door, instantly he heard his name being called loudly from inside and stepped to the side just in time as the door was yanked open and Isshin fell out onto the pavement.

‘Hi Dad,’ Ichigo laughed as he stepped over the man and into the family home, Yuzu and Karin came around the corner, Yuzu bounded and skipped to his side and Ichigo felt his heart fall, she’d grown so big and he’d missed it. Before he left he could have sworn she was somewhere around his middle but now she was taller than Toshiro and so was Karin, he knew he’d be missing their birthdays in May so he made sure to get them gifts for coming back.

‘Ichigo it’s so good to see you,’ Yuzu wrapped herself around him and he hugged her back happily.

‘Yeah you too, have you been looking after the old man?’

‘Keeping him in line more like,’ Karin sighed from down the hall, she was leaning nonchalantly against the wall as she spoke and Ichigo grinned at her.

‘Nice to know some things never change.’

‘Ichigo! It’s good to have you back son.’ Isshin was now hugging Ichigo from behind and his sister at the same time in a giant family hug. Yuzu reached out for Karin who just shook her head.

‘I value my lungs, I love Ichigo he doesn’t need to die to know that.’ She muttered and Ichigo was thankful because he was already being squished between the two bodies without the need for another one.

‘So where is this partner of yours Ichigo?’ Isshin asked looking around as if Ichigo was storing them in some kind of multi dimensional space.

‘Well, I wanted to talk to you all about that before you meet them, can we… er… go into the living room?’ Isshin went back to close the front door and Karin led them into the living room leaning against the back wall as Yuzu sat on the couch beside her father looking up at Ichigo expectantly.

‘Okay so…’ Ichigo didn’t know where to start and seemed to be at a loss, it was best just to come right out and say it right?  He was twisting his hands nervously in front of him as the three sets of eyes watched him.

‘Is it a boy?’ Karin finally asked and Ichigo swallowed thickly then nodded.

‘I knew it,’ Isshin smirked and sat back smugly on the couch and Yuzu squealed her delight.

‘Oh Ichigo I didn’t know you were gay, how long have you known?’

‘To be honest not long… I mean… I’ve thought I’ve been for a while but… when I met him…’

‘Oh I love a good love story,’ Yuzu sighed in content and Isshin held his hand up awkwardly for a high five.

‘Well done son,’ Ichigo looked at his hand and frowned turning around to look at them all.

‘Is it that obvious?’

‘You used to dress up in Yuzus dresses when you were little even though they were too small for you.’ Karin pointed out and Ichigo flinched.

‘Yeah you guys don’t have any of those photos around do you? Can we burn them?’

‘Don’t leave me hanging son!’

‘I’ll high five you dad,’ Yuzu took the high five and they had a small celebratory moment between them that Ichigo and Karin ignored.

‘I think there was a picture or two in the family album yeah,’ the raven haired girl said as she gazed thoughtfully into the distance.

‘Can I burn that?’

‘Absolutely not,’ Isshin stood up and shook his head, ‘so when are we meeting him? Where is he?’

‘Well, he’s in the motor home we got for the trip, I wanted to just prepare you… he’s not what you’ll probably expect.’

‘He’s got to be short,’ Yuzu mumbled thoughtfully.

‘And he’s got to be intelligent, Ichigos intelligent and I couldn’t see him being with someone who wasn’t,’ Karin pitched in.

‘I bet he’ll have a distinguishing feature about him, something that draws you in, not a rugged kind of attraction but something else.’ Isshin seemed to be joining in this new game they were all playing.

‘Yes I agree because there’s plenty of guys around here that have never caught his eye and they all look the same, Ichigo is a sucker for big eyes too,’ Karin was smirking at him and he scowled back at her.

‘What makes you say that?’

‘Because you used to be obsessed with Emma Stone remember? Yet you’d always said you’d never sleep with her you just liked how big her eyes were.’

‘Okay so short, intelligent, large eyes and some kind of distinguishing feature?’ Isshin summed up and they all turned to Ichigo who was flushing red now, how the hell did his family know him that much?

‘Yeah you’re right about all of it,’ he sighed and they all laughed, Yuzu and Isshin high fived again and Karin just scowled at them when they tried to offer her one.

‘Can we meet him now?’ Isshin pouted and Ichigo groaned.

‘Fine, but can we set some ground rules?’

‘Of course,’ he smiled at him as he practically sat vibrating on his seat.

‘Number one, he will be sleeping in my room not the guest room-‘

‘Have you already gotten that far into your relationship?’ Isshin interrupted with a content sigh, ‘my boy is growing up so fast are you being safe?’

‘Dad!’ Ichigo choked out, heat flooding his face, ‘I’m 23!’

‘I know but you still need to be safe,’

‘Oh please god let’s not have this talk, rule number two absolutely no mention of anything to do with our sexual relationship it will make him uncomfortable and he’s already worried about meeting you all.’

‘Okay sleeping in your room but don’t vocally mention it, got it,’ Isshin smiled sarcastically from the couch and Ichigo groaned. Why was he even trying this? Of course they weren’t going to listen to him.

‘Number three, please don’t bring up his height or his age, he’s 19 same as Yuzu and Karin but he looks a bit younger when you first see him, until you hear him speak and how intelligent he is and well spoken he is.’

‘Like em young son? Should I be worrie-‘

‘Number four,’ Ichigo cut across his old mans shenanigans now, ‘no family album or any embarrassing photos please, I want him to still find me attractive at the end of this and I’m worried you two will put him off.’

‘Why isn’t Karin being dragged into this?’ Yuzu pouted at him and Ichigo and Karin both scowled at her.

‘Because Karin minds her own business, you seem to take a lot after Dad,’ he laughed at the cute pout that earned on her face but brightened back up once her father agreed to Ichigos terms.

‘ _Now_ can we meet him?’

‘Fine, I’ll go and get him,’ Ichigo could feel his face flushing, he’d have to just hope this went better than it was being set up to go, at this rate they were going to completely embarrass him. He practically dragged his feet around the corner and knocked on the door to the motor home, Toshiro clearly saw it was him through one of the darkened windows and opened the door stepping out. He looked like he’d just stepped out of a fashion shoot, he’d put on one of Ichigos favourite suits, the suit he’d worn the day they first slept together, the ice blue shirt, white tie, white waistcoat and white trousers and belt. Ichigo almost groaned and dragged him back inside.

‘Why do you have to look so good, it’s going to make it more difficult to keep my hands off you in front of my family.’

‘Not my fault,’ Toshiro smirked, obviously very pleased with the result of his outfit as they walked towards the corner.

‘Okay remember-‘

‘They’re not your average family.’ Toshiro recited.

‘Yes and they-‘

‘Can be a bit strange and unpredictable,’

‘Yes but they’ll-‘

‘Ichigo they’re not going to make me like you less if they embarrass you, relax, I’m here to make a good impression if they’re strange I’ll roll with it stop worrying.’ The prodigy smiled at him and reached up on his tip toes for a kiss that Ichigo met with shaking lips.

‘Okay,’ he mumbled clearly not convinced though his words had made him feel a little better as he took his hand they walked around the corner and towards the front door which had been left open and waiting for them. They entered and took off their shoes and Ichigo could feel the nervous excitement in the air as he led the man down the hall and into the living room.

‘Everyone’s in here,’ he muttered as he walked into the living room, ‘guys this is-‘

‘OH MY GOSH! You’re Toshiro Hitsugaya!’ Yuzu’s eyes were bugging out her face and she lit up scarlet as she watched him. All eyes in the room seemed to be locked onto her and this unusual reaction as Toshiro straightened himself up a little. His presence in the room was amazing, even though he was tiny you could see why he was a prodigy business man. Ichigo rarely saw this side of him now, since they’d gotten intimate the man would let the pretence down all the time around Ichigo, he’d slouch, he’d swear, he’d scowl, he’d laugh, he’d grin, he’d _relax._ Now was all business, his shoulders were squared, his jaw was inclined upwards and his eyes were wide and alert, dancing around the room and clearly drinking in all the details including the stunned facial expressions of Karin and Isshin who were watching Yuzu’s reaction with startled interest.

‘Oh I’m so sorry, that was so rude,’ she was blushing worse now as she attempted to fan herself with her own hand. ‘I’ve seen you on TV and I didn’t even know you were gay oh my gosh, your vogue shoot was just amazing.’ She was getting redder and redder by the second and Ichigo had to laugh.

‘Jesus my boyfriend has a fan girl,’ Ichigo chuckled breaking some of the tension in the room as Toshiro finally addressed the blushing blond.

‘Yes that’s me, I’m sorry we’ve been trying to keep this rather private I’m sure you can imagine, the press would have a field day.’ He gave her a genuine smile and Ichigo had to actually grasp her arm as she swooned.

‘Yeah he has that affect on me sometimes too.’ Ichigo mumbled quietly but loud enough for Yuzu and Toshiro to hear, though the prodigy didn’t blush the tops of his ears did turn a little red at the comment when he turned towards Isshin.

‘Dr Kurosaki,’ he spoke with that very business like tone and nodded his head reaching out to take Isshins hand who was actually behaving himself. ‘It’s such a pleasure to meet you, Ichigo has told me all about you of course.’

‘I’m worried about what he’s said,’ Isshin replied, ‘but please call me Isshin.’ Ichigo prepared himself for his father to engulf the prodigy in a hug but he didn’t do anything of the sort, instead he stepped forward and clasped Toshiros hand as if he were meeting a fellow Dr for the first time, the genuine respect shown seemed to relax Toshiro a little as his giant teal eyes brightened.

‘This is my daughter Yuzu,’ Isshin nodded to the blond who Ichigo was still holding steady, ‘and my daughter Karin,’ he nodded to the back wall where Karin sort of nodded to Toshiro who smiled pleasantly back her.

‘It’s lovely to meet you all,’ Toshiro smiled and Yuzu seemed to go bright red anytime his eyes would land on her.

‘Come on Yuzu, he’s with Ichigo you cannot have him.’ Karin deadpanned from across the room and Yuzu only flushed deeper.

‘I’m so sorry, it’s just that he’s one the glamours top ten attractive men and-‘

‘That’s quite the title there,’ Isshin boomed and the tops of Toshiros ears went a little redder as he shuffled his feet.

‘Yes, well,-‘ Toshiro had been about to say something modest when Ichigo cut over the top of him.

‘They ranked him at number eight, number _eight_ can you believe that?’ Ichigo hissed to the room and Yuzu shook her head beside him.

‘He should have been first,’ she offered shyly and Ichigo hummed.

‘I completely agree.’

‘Yes well,’ Toshiro was casually fixing his cuffs his face now blushing beautifully in front of the room, ‘ _you’re_ bias,’ he shot back at Ichigo who pouted at him.

‘I am not its true.’

‘Perhaps Toshiro would like a cup of tea?’ Isshin offered and Yuzu quickly scampered off to make a pot for everyone while Isshin offered for them all to take a seat.

‘So how did you two meet?’ Isshin asked and Toshiro bit his bottom lip.

‘Dad he’s my boss remember, I went to work for hi-‘

‘Yes, yes, yes we know that but when did this,’ he flickered a finger between Ichigo and Toshiro, ‘happen?’

‘Oh well, um, I kind of had a huge crush on him the moment I saw him.’ Ichigo mumbled and Toshiro just smirked into his teacup as Yuzu brought through a tray of biscuits. Toshiro was sat on a two seated sofa about an arms length away from Ichigo to be polite in front of his family. Isshin and Yuzu managed to take up the room of the large three seated sofa and Karin was perched on a comfortable looking chair on the other side of the table.

‘I thought your son was very attractive too, but we actually got to spend a bit of time together during that vogue shoot. Ichigo accompanied me there and back, its when I realised he had a decent music taste.’ Clearly Toshiro was keeping away from the images that he’d had on his phone and Ichigo was thankful, it would be embarrassing to have to explain that one to his family. ‘He asked me out shortly after, just came straight into my office and asked.’

‘I left you gifts on your desk first,’ Ichigo mumbled looking away when he felt heat creeping up on his face.

‘Yes you did,’ Toshiro turned to smile at him.

‘Where did you go on the date?’ Isshin pressed, grinning from ear to ear at this story.

‘Well, I took him to the beach, we walked along it, went to the arcade and Toshiro won at basically everything, then we got some dinner and went home.’

‘It was a really good date, best I’ve ever been on.’ Toshiro smiled and Isshin’s chest swelled with pride as Ichigo just blushed in the corner.

‘Did he kiss you?’ Isshin asked leaning across the table and Ichigo choked on his tea. Why the fuck would his father ask that?

‘Dad!’

‘Yes he did, at the end of the night I offered for him to come inside but like a polite gentleman he refused.’ Toshiro boldly stated and Isshin barked a laugh as they all turned to stare at Ichigo who was now rather mortified in the corner, why the hell was Toshiro indulging this much information? He was normally a closed book. Ichigo threw Toshiro a small glare which the Prodigy just smirked at.

 

The day went really well, Yuzu made a warm family meal which they all enjoyed and they made their way back into the living room for a few drinks, even though technically three of them were underage to drink they were all having one regardless. Even Yuzu who had sat down with a strawberry daiquiri that she’d made herself looking rather pleased, Ichigo, Isshin and Karin all had beers and Ichigo had ran back to the motor home to get Toshiros whiskey.

‘So you named the motor home after your assistant?’ Isshin laughed and Toshiro grimaced.

‘Yes we did, please don’t tell her,’ he chuckled back over his glass of whiskey, his cheeks were slowly flushing with the more he drank.

‘Don’t worry I won’t, she’d kill you,’ he laughed back and Ichigo and Toshiro both flinched in agreement. It was true, the red head would murder them for it.

‘Is that you?’ Toshiro had turned back around to watch Ichigo who was over at the wall back of the room opening a window, Toshiros eyes had gone to a family photo beside the wall as he did so and Ichigo turned, flushing a little.

‘Yeah it is,’ he mumbled and Toshiro quickly stood up and made his way over to the picture. It was a picture taken at the beach where a 10 year old Ichigo and his two younger sisters were burying their father as he slept on the sand.

‘Who took the photo?’

‘One of dads work friends, it was a play date, their kids were there too but they were playing in the water.’ Ichigo said and Toshiro smiled stepping back and grinning at his boyfriend.

‘Your hair looks even more orange now than it did back then I thought it was meant to get darker the older you got?’

‘Says the man with hair the colour of vivid snow,’ Ichigo shot back and earned a chuckle from the man.

‘Toshiro if you liked that picture so much we have a whole family album I could show you-‘

‘No!’ Ichigo practically shouted out to the room but his father ignored him standing up as Toshiro grinned and nodded enthusiastically at him.

‘Yes please Dr Kurosaki I’d love that,’ Toshiro hummed as Ichigo shot his father a glare.

‘Don’t you dare Dad,’ but he’d wandered off and Ichigo whined turning to his boyfriend, ‘why, why would you do this to me? Do you not care about me at all?’

‘Oh you’re being dramatic,’ Toshiro chuckled into his glass of whiskey as he made his way back to the couch and Isshin came in and sat down beside him to put the album on his lap.

It was worse than Ichigo could ever have imagined, right from the first page was compromising photographs that had Toshiro grinning ear to ear.

‘That’s Ichigo in the bath, he used to love sticking his head under the water to see how long he could hold his breath for unfortunately he’d always stick his bum up in the air like that, his mother thought it was hilarious so she took the photo.’ Toshiros teal eyes were eagerly taking in the sight, a massive grin on his face.

‘You look so cute Ichigo,’ he muttered as he leaned over the album and Ichigo knew his face was as bright as his hair just now as he glared at his father.

‘I hate you.’

‘Oh that’s Ichigo when we were learning to potty train him, he just used to prefer running around with his diaper off.’

The smug looking grin on his boyfriends face caused Ichigo to moan into his beer, he was going to need something much stronger than that to get him through the rest of the evening, as if sensing what he needed Karin pointed a thumb to the kitchen.

‘Dad keeps his vodka on the shelf to the top right of the fridge.’

‘Thanks,’ Ichigo made his way into the kitchen and poured a generous amount of vodka into a glass with very little lemonade, adding ice and trying to take a deep breath as he made his way back through to the living room to the sound of laughter that he _knew_ was at his expense.

‘Yeah he’d always take Yuzus pink dresses, eventually I had to buy him some makeup of his own because he would find his way into the paints and that was really dangerous to put near your face.’

‘Oh my god Ichigo,’ Toshiro was hysterical, there were happy tears bubbling at the corner of his eyes as he turned to grin broadly at the strawberry. Ichigo scowled at him and took three massive gulps of the vodka. ‘You were so cute as a child.’

‘Now you know why it comes as no surprise to us that he’s gay,’ Isshin chuckled as they turned the page. They seemed to glaze over the pictures of Karin and Isshin and Yuzu and focused more on embarrassing Ichigo as much as they possibly could. ‘Now why he used to pinch his tiny penis like that we’ve no idea.’

Ichigo had to leave the room.

 

* * *

 

 

He went to sulk upstairs and moodily scrolled through his phone when he heard footsteps coming up the stairs towards the bedroom. There was gentle knocking and Ichigo just scowled at the door.

‘Are you mad at me?’ came the half amused voice of his boyfriend and Ichigo hissed at the door as it cracked open. Ichigo couldn’t even look at him as the boy came over to sit on the edge of his bed, but he could feel the smugness radiating from him.

‘Your family are really nice,’ he chuckled and Ichigo shot him a glare over his phone, ‘I’m sorry they embarrassed you so much, but you do realise it’s just baby photos, there’s nothing to be ashamed of.’ Toshiro bit his bottom lip as if he had been on the verge of saying something to wind him up but realised he probably wasn’t in the best mood for it.

‘They did all that on purpose,’ Ichigo stated moodily, it was clear from the slur in his voice that he’d had a lot to drink. He’d gone back down twice to refill his glass and was only halfway done with this third glass when Toshiro had come to the room. Toshiro frowned and picked the glass up to sniff it and recoiled.

‘My gosh how much vodka is in this?’ he scowled at the glass and sighed putting it back down as he folded his limbs up onto the bed. ‘I’ve never had a family to care that much that they’d make an album full of pictures, so it’s kind of nice getting to see yours, I get that it’s probably a little embarrassing but knowing you grew up with a loving family is quite a comforting thought.’ Toshiro had reached out and taken Ichigos hand in his own and was now tracing patterns across his palm as he spoke. ‘All the pictures I have are the ones of me and my Gran, but I don’t have a massive album like you do filled with family pictures and family moments.’ He paused and Ichigo watched as he glanced back up at him. ‘I remember you mentioning your mother passed away… but if you don’t mind me asking what happened to her?’

‘She died when I was very young, walking home from work and a guy lost control of his car, nothing they could have done.’

‘I’m so sorry.’

‘Don’t worry about it, I was very young.’ They sat for a long time while Toshiro continued to trace a pattern across the palm of his hand.

‘Do you still want to sleep beside me tonight?’ he asked almost tentatively as if unsure if Ichigo was too mad at him or not.

‘Of course I do,’ Ichigo said with a rather shocked tone, watching a small smile spread its way across his boyfriends features as he leaned down to flip Ichigos hand and kiss the back of it.

‘Alright then I’ll go and get my stuff.’

‘I’ll come with you,’

‘Don’t worry about it, it’s downstairs, your father went with me to get it.’

Ichigo felt bad now as he watched his boyfriend leaving the room, maybe he had overreacted a little but at the time it was just so difficult not having any control over intimate and personal details of himself being dropped onto the lap of his boyfriend without Ichigos consent. He sighed, he had to trust Toshiro, had to trust that it wouldn’t change the way the prodigy felt about him, had to trust he wouldn’t use it against him.

When Toshiro came back up Ichigo was in a bit of a better mood even though he was very aware of how much he’d had to drink, he sat on the edge of his bed while the room span a little and Toshiro gently rubbed his back. He wasn’t too drunk though that he couldn’t help his boyfriend to get undressed, that job was specifically reserved for Ichigo.

‘Ichigo, we can’t have sex, your family,’ Toshiro practically hissed at him and Ichigo just hummed a small smile on his face.

‘I’m not making sexual advancements,’ he spoke innocently and the smaller male scowled at him as Ichigo _very slowly_ removed his white trousers as Toshiro lay down on the bed. ‘God this is bringing back memories.’

‘Put those memories away before you hurt yourself, I’m not having sex with your family in the house.’ Toshiro quietly whispered again and Ichigo chuckled.

‘Gods you’re no fun,’ he pouted as he crawled over the smaller man, ‘and you’re lying.’ Ichigo reached down between them and into the waistband of his boxers to grab Toshiros very hard member earning a soft grunt from the man.

‘I’m not lying, let go,’ he hissed back and Ichigo did as he was told with a grin on his face, and then went about stripping himself down to his own boxers and climbing into bed beside him.

‘I really like your family,’ Toshiro mumbled against his skin and Ichigo kissed the top of his forehead trying his best to push all the events of the day from his mind.

‘Yeah they’re alright, I didn’t expect Yuzu to be such a fan girl. Karin told me she has a picture of you on her wall.’ Ichigo scrunched his face up, ‘I don’t know how I feel about that.’

Toshiro just chuckled sleepily into his chest and soon the two of them were drifting off to sleep, Toshiro lulled by the gentle beat of Ichigos heart and Ichigo by his boyfriends deep and steady breathing.

 

The few days that they got to spend at the Kurosaki family house flew by and soon they were packing their bags to head to the airport. They’d spoken to Isshin and decided to leave the motor home Rangiku with the family which Isshin was thrilled about, talking about going on trips with the girls with it.

Isshin was giving them a lift to the airport with their bags and chatting happily with Toshiro about what he had coming up that year.

‘I heard you’re under a lot of stress from Russia just now,’

‘You’ve been reading your newspapers.’ Toshiro chuckled to him and Isshin grinned back.

‘Apparently he’s in Russia just now,’ Ichigo spoke from the back seat where he sat in the middle so he could easily see the two in the front.

‘Not anymore he’s not have you not seen today’s headlines? They know you’re here and they know you’re with Ichigo.’

Toshiro turned to share a look with Ichigo, it was true they’d gotten lazy and he’d gone out exploring freely without much in the way of a disguise on so of course the papers would now be speculating what was happening.

‘What are they saying?’ Toshiro quickly asked and Isshin reached down the side of his door and brought out a news paper to hand to him.

‘I cannot remember what page it was but it’s in there-‘

‘Got it,’ Toshiro said quickly, his eyes skimming the paper faster than Ichigo had ever seen them move.

‘Well?’ Ichigo asked after a while, trying to keep any kind of apprehension from his voice, ‘what’s the verdict?’

‘It’s not good, they’re saying that you’re my boyfriend, they know you live here and have pictures of me entering your home. They’re saying we’re together and you were bringing me home to meet the family.’ He sighed and Ichigo scowled, how the hell had they gotten so much speculation right?

‘I’ve not spoken to anyone and I don’t plan too, I’ve been avoiding people who have been trying to speak to me outside of work but I think my lack of comments have only made their speculations grow.’ Isshin said, bringing a hand up to rub his brow and Toshiro shook his head.

‘No you are right not to say anything, no matter what you say they will take it and use it against you. It’s about time we sat down and had a proper meeting with Rukia and the others about how we want all of this to go.’ Toshiro sighed and rubbed his eyes, ‘it’s only a matter of time now anyway.’

Ichigo leaned over to grip his shoulder and Toshiro covered his hand with his own as he turned towards the strawberry.

‘You do realise you’ll not have any privacy if this all gets out?’

‘I accept that.’ Ichigo said, ‘I want to be with you and I accept everything that comes with that.’

Toshiro leaned over to brush his lips against the hand Ichigo had on his shoulder and Isshin smiled.

‘You’ll always have a home away from New York if you kids ever need to get out you can come back and visit anytime, Yuzu will keep the reporters away from the house, she can be very scary when she’s annoyed.’

‘Karin too,’ Ichigo laughed sitting back in his seat again, ‘double trouble those two.’

‘Ichigo will be returning to study anyway I just hope this doesn’t follow you back to University.’ Toshiro scowled and Ichigo shrugged.

‘Won’t matter if it does, I’ll just deal with it, it shouldn’t affect my studies.’ Ichigo smiled and they all turned to see the airport looming into view.

‘Right kids, have a safe flight back home, Toshiro you’re welcome back anytime.’

‘Thank you Dr Kurosaki,’ Toshiro said with a small smile as he peered through the rolled down window after they removed themselves from the car.

‘Bye Dad,’ Ichigo called as the two of them made their way into the airport, they’d only taken a few steps inside when Toshiros work phone went off and he answered it.

‘Yeah Rukia? I know… we saw, set up a meeting for as soon as we’re back, we’ll come straight into the office, see you in a couple of hours.’ Toshiro hung up and gave Ichigo a look, already in the airport people were staring at them and pointing as they hastily made their way to the business lounge to get some privacy.

‘We’ve got a lot of shit to shift through when we get back then?’ Ichigo asked scowling at the thought of all the magazines and headlines.

‘You’ve no idea.’


	17. Roles Reversed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter we see some roles being reversed ;D

As soon as they were off the plane they went straight to the office, Toshiro had arranged them to take different cars so it would be a little less obvious and as Ichigo made his way up to the building an hour after Toshiro had arrived he was greeted by 3 photographers standing outside and someone shouting his name asking him a question that sounded strangely like ‘is it true Mr Hitsugaya has a dragon tattoo on his ass?’

Ichigo had ignored everything as he marched straight into the office, he had to speak to security to let him in since he didn’t even have time to go back to his place to pick up his staff pass. Once he was granted access to the building Rangiku had come out into the hall to pick him up since a substitute staff pass would not get him into the executive office that linked onto the CEOs. Ichigo walked in and was quickly ushered into Toshiros own office where he saw Rukia and Toshiro waiting. Rukia was sitting on the couch looking very pregnant and Toshiro was standing leaning against the desk, on the coffee table in front of the couch were spread a few newspapers with various pages open and a couple of cheap trashy magazines. Rangiku walked over to join Rukia on the couch and Ichigo stopped to examine the papers on the table.

‘I’ve knocked back all interviews in the meantime,’ Rukia had finished speaking and Ichigo heard Toshiro sigh. He turned towards the man who somehow was now back in a suit and frowned.

‘When did you put that on?’ the taller male asked him.

‘In the car on the way over, the driver brought it for me,’ Toshiro was running a hand down his face and looked a little exhausted. They weren’t even due back into the office today, they weren’t meant to be due back for another two days which they had planned to take to recuperate after the journey and to catch up on the sex they knew they’d have missed while staying with Ichigos family.

‘So the question is, how are we approaching the media about this?’ Rukia asked, folding her arms above her protruding belly, she looked a bit pale and there were dark rings under her eyes. Ichigo frowned, wondering if all this stress was having an effect on her pregnancy.

‘Well first,’ Toshiro shot her a look, ‘and no arguments about this Rukia, I want you to start recruiting for another publicist to take over during your maternity leave, I’m extending it so you can go away early, I don’t want any of this stress to have an impact on you, Renji and the baby.’

‘But I-‘

‘No.’ He’d not shouted but the obvious authority that had leaked into his voice as he’d said it had Ichigo exchanging a look with Rangiku. He’d never heard Toshiro be authoritative like that, that kind of demanding… if it weren’t for the circumstance they were in he’d have found it a bit of a turn on. ‘This is _not_ up for discussion, I need someone who can cover everything we have coming up in the locations required and I don’t want all that to be on your head. I trust you to be able to help me find the right kind of person, preferably someone Asian or European based so that we may retain them to help with the workload when this all goes down.’

It seemed he was making reference to a lot of things only he and Rukia fully understood because Toshiro rarely spoke about work to him. Ichigo knew this all had something to do with the Russian deal but what exactly he wasn’t sure of.

‘Okay fine, I will do that, I’ve already been in touch with someone they say he’s one of the best, very young but brilliant. I knew I’d need to find someone eventually,’ she sighed and nodded her head, a hand coming up to gently massage her stomach. ‘You’re right I can’t put this much stress on the pregnancy, it isn’t good for the baby.’

‘We’ll be fine Rukia I know you worry about Toshiro but I promise we’re all going to be looking after him so when you take your time off please try not to fret about anything,’ Rangiku smiled, placing a comforting hand on her arm.

‘Thanks Rangiku,’ Rukia smiled to her and Toshiro stepped forward to eye up the papers on the table as well.

‘Ichigo, we need to be careful, how we approach all of this,’ he said waving a hand over all the information on them that was laid out over the table, ‘will impact us for the rest of our lives, anything we say or do will be recorded forever so we need to be a bit more savvy.’

‘Are we not coming clean?’ Ichigo asked feeling a little deflated, he had thought about it on the car ride over and he wanted to be able to be with the man publicly. He loved him for goodness sake and though he hadn’t vocalised it yet he didn’t want to keep hiding it and tip toeing around everything.

‘Not yet,’ Toshiro shook his head and turned his stunning teal eyes on Ichigo, ‘just give me another two weeks?’

‘Alright,’ Ichigo made a face but nodded, a couple of weeks would be okay he knew that Toshiro had a mountain of pressure on him right now and as a supportive boyfriend his job was to relieve that pressure not add to it.

‘Thank you,’ Toshiro folded his arms across his chest and scowled down at one of the magazines, ‘”Hottest Gay Couple of the centaury?” really? What about Ellen and Portia?’ he gave an exasperated sigh and shook his head, ‘maybe I should ask Ellen for her advice,’ he frowned and walked around his desk.

‘You know Ellen DeGeneres?’ Ichigo asked his face lighting up and he bounced from foot to foot.

‘Yes I’ve met her at a few events, she’s lovely, such a genuine person,’ Toshiro glanced from some papers on his desk up to where Ichigo stood obviously having a fan girl moment like Yuzu had when she’d seen Toshiro. ‘I’m guessing you’re a fan?’

‘I love her,’ Ichigo tried to calm himself down and rubbed a hand on the back of his head as his boyfriend smirked at him.

‘I’ll get you to meet her sometime she’s literally exactly the same in person as she comes across on TV, happy, funny, caring and compassionate, one of very few genuine people in the industry,’ Toshiro said and laughed as Ichigo clamped a hand across his mouth to hide the pathetic squeal that had almost erupted from it.

‘That would be amazing,’ he finally replied after composing himself.

‘You two are so cute,’ Rangiku laughed as she leaned over the desk, Ichigo turned to the girls on the couch and saw them staring at him with smirks on their faces.

‘I know this is going to be hard for you two keeping things separate, but you won’t be able to go home together anymore, it’s going to be too difficult to do the driver swaps and if we slip up it will just make it more obvious that you’re dating.’ Rukia said and Ichigo frowned, he instantly felt deflated, he knew he’d just had a long trip with Toshiro where they’d spent literally every night together but he had enjoyed it so much, waking up to the smaller man, watching him get changed, cooking for him.

‘That’s alright according to the emails I came into today I think I’ll be sleeping in my office again for the next few nights.’ Toshiro sighed and rubbed his eyes.

‘You stay in your office?’ Ichigo asked him and the prodigy nodded.

‘Yes, over there is a bathroom with shower and I was going to have Rangiku run to mine and pick me up a few things,’ he turned to her and she nodded.

‘Of course, I can do that, no problem.’

‘So I can’t be with him for the next few weeks?’ Ichigo was trying to keep the hurt from his voice but he wasn’t doing a good job of it, both girls fixed him with an empathetic stare.

‘It wouldn’t be a good idea.’

‘What if I stayed in the office with him?’ Ichigo tried again, trying not to sound too needy.

‘They will be waiting for you both to leave though,’ Rangiku mumbled and they were all thoughtful for a while.

‘What if Rangiku you want and picked up his stuff and came back and made it abundantly obvious that Toshiro was staying in the office, you could shout something at the driver, we could get Charlie in on this tell him he won’t need to pick Toshiro up later as he’s staying the next few nights. Ichigo could leave and come to mine for a bit since we stay just down from the office we can keep an eye open for when the paparazzi depart and he could make his way back to the office under the cover of darkness and get in one of the back entrances?’ Rukia offered the elaborate plan and Ichigo turned to Toshiro hopefully.

‘It’s a lot of work,’ Toshiro was frowning and Ichigo scowled at him.

‘I don’t mind, we don’t have to do it every night anyway.’ Ichigo said and Toshiro rubbed the back of his head and nodded.

‘Fine,’ he said though less enthusiastically than Ichigo would have liked. He quickly looked away from the genius, he didn’t want him to know that the lack of enthusiasm had bothered him.

‘Alright then,’ Rukia slowly stood up and all of them reached out to help her at exactly the same time but she just scowled and swatted them all away, ‘lets get this plan into action.’

 

* * *

 

 

Rukia had arranged for a few things to help make Toshiros office stays more comfortable, instead of letting him sleep on the couch she’d arranged for a blow up bed to be dropped off along with a kettle, microwave oven, toaster, coffee machine, fridge, food and bathroom amenities.

Rangiku had carried out her plan with Charlie the driver and when finishing time had come Ichigo had left the building in full obvious view to get into a cab, cameras were snapped in his face and questions were slung at him which he ignored and the car drove around a few blocks first before doubling back and dropping a hooded Ichigo off outside Rukias. She’d left the door unlocked for him to literally walk in so he wasn’t left waiting outside for someone to answer.

‘Renji is working late at the gallery, something came up,’ she smiled as they both sat down to eat.

The two chatted amicably and kept their eyes on the office with a pair of binoculars, the paparazzi didn’t stay for too long after finishing time, clearly realising that Toshiro was in fact staying in the office that night. One by one they packed up and left the scene but Rukia and Ichigo both thought it best to wait until much later at night before he should make his way to the building.

When Renji arrived home it was with a surprise, he had brought a brown wig with him for Ichigo to wear, they’d all had a laugh about it but actually it was a very good idea.

‘Having a hood up is too obvious, it draws attention if it isn’t raining or snowing and your orange hair is too noticeable, if any paparazzi are watching in cars you’ll be spotted right away,’ Renji explained his logic as they got Ichigo into the wig, he’d also arranged to have a change of clothes left at Rukias since a suit would also draw attention. They completed his outfit with a fake moustache that Rukia had also tried on and as soon as the clock struck 11pm Ichigo left to make his way to the back of the office. He didn’t take a straight route to it but instead slipped down one of the other streets and doubled back towards one of the fire exits at the back of the building, once he made his way down the narrow ally way and was sure no one was following he gave a secret knock on the door and it was opened by Rangiku. Ichigo slipped inside and greeted her warmly and with a hushed voice.

‘The security guard only has fifteen minutes of his break left before he sees you on the cameras and the cleaners are on the third floor,’ she hissed at him as he hugged her, she grabbed his wig and fake moustache with a chuckle and Ichigo quickly made his way towards one of the elevators. The lights were on low and the hallways were dark and almost eerie looking, he’d never been here this late at night when everyone was away home before.

Rangiku left through the front doors and Toshiros driver Charlie was waiting, ready to take her safely home, knowing this Ichigo quickly dove into the elevator and checked his watch, it was 11:34pm and the security were due back off their break at 11:45pm. He made it to the office in plenty of time though and was soon opening the heavy office door and closing it with its familiar click behind him. The office was dark, in fact the only light was from other buildings outside flooding into the large office, to the left the blow up bed was in the middle of the floor with plenty of space around it and covers and pillows hastily thrown on top of it, the fridge and microwave had been set up to create a little kitchen area giving a more warm homely feel to the large office. Directly in front of Ichigo, Toshiro was on a skype chat behind his desk, his suit jacket was slung over the arm rest of his desk chair which had been moved to the side as the prodigy was standing staring at his laptop screen with a serious expression on his face. His brows were knitted together and his lips were narrowed into a thin serious line on his face, even though he must have heard Ichigo enter he did not look up. It would have been highly unlikely that he’d have seen Ichigo anyway given the obvious glare from the laptop screen onto his beautifully pale face and white shirt causing the two to blend into each other. Ichigo decided to walk over and sit down on the couch so he could amuse himself by reading through some of the magazines and newspapers while he waited to spend time with Toshiro.

‘Yesli u menya yest' tozhe togda ya budu, no ya predpochel by ne dolzhny idti i byt' v glazakh obshchestvennosti, yesli ya mogu izbezhat' etogo.’

Ichigo turned to Toshiro with his brows raised, the man was speaking into a headset with a mouth piece and from his location on the couch he couldn’t see the prodigy’s screen given the fact it had a privacy cover over it.

‘Shtraf.’

Toshiro almost barked the last word and took the headset off and tossed it down on the desk closing his laptop over, he stood with his eyes closed and his thumb and forefinger pressed into his eyes, trying to massage them.

‘You know,’ Ichigo mused as he leaned over the couches arm rest facing the younger man, ‘your bossy work voice is kind of hot.’ An amused smirk made its way onto the smaller mans face but he kept his eyes closed over. ‘Seriously it’s a bit of a turn on, not going to lie.’

‘Is that right?’ Toshiro removed the fingers from his eyes and turned to fix Ichigo with a playful glare.

‘Little bit yeah,’ Ichigo grinned then frowned a little, ‘Russian deal still got you stressed? I didn’t know you could speak Russian.’

‘Not very well,’ Toshiro glared back down at his laptop and sighed, loosening the black tie around his neck and tossing it onto his desk beside the forgotten headset.

‘Was that the reason why you weren’t exactly enthusiastic about me coming here and spending nights with you?’ the question had been burning in his mouth all day since Toshiros less than enthusiastic response to the plan they’d laid out.

‘Well I just know I’m going to be an arrogant grumpy asshole until this all gets sorted and very much in boss mode so I didn’t want that to impact our relationship.’

‘C’mon handsome I’d never let it impact us,’ Ichigo ushered for him to come and sit on his lap but Toshiro just narrowed his eyes.

‘I’m still in arrogant grumpy asshole mode, it might be contagious.’

‘Think you could bring a little bit of that to the bedroom?’ Ichigo flirted back grinning at him. Toshiro narrowed his eyes and pointed to the front of his desk.

‘Step into my office Kurosaki I’d like a word with you.’

Ichigo was intrigued now, he stood up from the couch and did as he was told walking back around the desk to stand in front of it. Toshiro hooked a foot into his chair and slid it effortlessly back along so he could sit in it. He reached forward and pulled a pen and piece of paper towards him and started to write something that Ichigo couldn’t really see in the dim lighting. The prodigy then cleared the desk, putting his laptop and headset neatly to the side and the piece of paper to his left then he leaned back and opened his drawer before closing it again and fixed Ichigo with a stare.

‘Why are you smiling?’ he asked, his tone deadpanned and serious, Ichigo pursed his lips and tried not to smile. ‘Is something amusing you Kurosaki?’

Fuck he was good at this, nothing faltered from his stoic expression, his large teal eyes bore into Ichigo like they did the first day they’d met and it felt strange like he was being scrutinized.

‘I have your report,’ he stood up and walked over to Ichigos right where three large filing cabinets were located, the office was so large that Ichigo was hardly surprised he hadn’t seen them before now. The prodigy opened one of them and pulled out a brown file before closing it again, he made his way over and sat back down behind his desk.

‘Now, there’s a lot of stuff here Kurosaki that simply won’t do. Indecent exposure, office romances, talking about things that make colleagues feel uncomfortable,’ he tutted loudly shaking his head and Ichigo was doing his best not to laugh. ‘Now normally, all this would be grounds for expulsion,’ he closed the file with a snap and stood up, throwing it onto the desk so that the noise echoed loudly in the silence of the large room. ‘I’ll settle with punishing you and letting you off with a warning.’

‘Punishing me?’ Ichigo asked, biting his lower lip, fuck this was hot, this right here was part of the reason he’d lusted after the man so bad, why half the world were obsessed with him. The crisp icy demeanour, the way he made himself look much taller than he actually was, his shoulders thrown back and that air of authority that seemed to fill even this large room. The sharp stare of his teal eyes and the hard edges of his face that usually softened when he normally looked at Ichigo, it was all turning the strawberry on the same way it had the very first day he’d stepped into this office.

‘Strip,’ Toshiro spoke the word into the silence, one hand on his desk as he leaned forward slightly.

‘What?’ Ichigo felt colour flood into his cheeks, he knew this was his boyfriend the man he loved so much but right now in this scenario he wasn’t playing that part and Ichigo suddenly felt very shy and self conscious.

‘I do not like to repeat myself Kurosaki. Strip. Now.’ A tiny hint of a smirk played at the edges of his lips and Ichigo tried not to focus on that, he tried to focus on the sound of his own breathing as he pulled his t shirt up over his head and tossed it down onto the floor. He couldn’t make eye contact with the man, it was strange to suddenly feel so self conscious and yet that’s exactly what was happening. He also knew because of the way Toshiro was behaving that a bit of heat had made its way down into his groin and this just made him even more embarrassed. He pulled his belt off and stepped out of his shoes and snuck a glance at Toshiro, he was watching him intently and Ichigo hesitated, he almost didn’t want to remove his trousers and boxers.

‘All off Kurosaki, all of it.’

Ichigo gulped and popped the button of his jeans hooking his thumbs into the waistband of his boxers at the same time as he bent over to slide them completely down his legs, his hands had come up to try and cover his partial erection as he kicked the garments from his ankles.

‘Did I say you could cover yourself?’ Toshiro scowled at him as the prodigy perched on the corner of his desk closer to Ichigo. Feeling incredibly embarrassed the strawberry removed his hands and felt colour flood into his cheeks as Toshiros teal eyes drunk in the entire sight. His expression was completely unreadable and that didn’t ease Ichigos nerves, this was strange almost wrong and yet so erotic, where had his little cute Toshiro gone?

‘Sit,’ the prodigy stood up and pointed to his desk chair and Ichigo took a tentative step towards it gauging Toshiros reaction, the prodigy wasn’t even looking at him but was looking out one of his windows, his face still stoic and Ichigo quickly moved to sit on the desk chair. The leather was cold against his flushed skin but it didn’t take long to start absorbing his body heat as Toshiro made his way over, the chair was so large there was room on either side of Ichigos thighs for Toshiros to place his and that’s exactly what happened when the prodigy straddled him on the chair. Ichigo took in a deep breath, the white haired man still was not looking at him but instead was watching his torso, there was nothing possessive or lustful about the look it was almost scrutinizing and Ichigo tensed his muscles as if trying to make them more appealing.

‘Hmmm,’ Ichigo saw the icy façade break for a few short seconds at his movement before quickly recovering back, Toshiro leaned forward and began to kiss his neck. Instantly the strawberry tilted it back giving him access as his own hands came up to try and get some clothing off the sexy CEO.

‘I didn’t give you permission to touch me,’ Toshiro hissed against his neck and gave a particularly harsh suck to the area just above his collarbone. At least if a mark was left it would still be easy enough to cover with a simple collar of a shirt. Ichigo pouted as his hands were swatted away and the prodigy clearly buttoned back up the few the strawberry had managed to remove. Then the small hips were grinding into him and he gasped, normally he was the one to completely take charge so this was new a complete first for their relationship and Ichigo could feel himself becoming more fully erect under the grinding.

‘Can I at least remove your trousers?’ Ichigo whined and the prodigy simply sat back, his hips still rolling into Ichigo to create a little friction as the strawberrys hands gripped the armrests tightly.

‘Get up,’ the bossy voice sounded as the smaller male slid off the chair and Ichigo did as he was told, ‘bend over the desk.’

‘Wha-?’

‘Do it.’

Ichigos eyes had gone wide, but he did as he was told, stepping closer to the desk he leaned over it, it was rather uncomfortable because now his erection was pressing between his stomach and the polished wood. Toshiro pulled something from under his desk and Ichigo realised it was a large footrest, the smaller male quickly hopped up onto it so his groin was now at perfect level with Ichigos ass, where a fully clothed member began to grind against it. Were they… were they switching roles? Ichigo shuddered against the feeling and tensed on the desk as the drawer to his left was opened and a bottle of lube was pulled out, he heard the pop of a lid and braced himself as he felt a finger worm its way inside his ass.

‘Ah,’ Ichigo hissed against the feeling, this was new they’d never done this before and though he’d never admit it he was now thankful for the obvious differences in their bodies sizes because he was nervous as hell. He knew this would hurt but Toshiro was a lot smaller than him and had been accepting Ichigo happily for so long, something about the idea of his boyfriends beautiful member sliding inside him was a bit of a turn on and now he was curious about the feeling of his prostate being found too, since he’d seen the obvious effect on Toshiro so many times. Once one finger was managed without complaint the prodigy pulled out and inserted a second lube coated finger, this time the dull throbbing was a bit more painful but Ichigo could take it, he allowed the fingers to pump in and out of him. He was waiting for some kisses on his back or some touching by the mans other hand but nothing of comfort came to him at all, this was purely him being dominated in this unusual scenario of roleplay the two had come up with and it was incredibly erotic. Then the fingers changed direction inside him, searching for something and Ichigo braced himself, waiting for it- a wave of hot pleasure like he’d never felt before, so different and unique yet exquisite shot up and down his spine and he moaned loudly into the quiet office, the fingers were then quickly withdrawn and three were added, locating that same spot again quickly.

Each jab against his prostate was causing a reaction that Ichigo had never felt before, he was succumbing and giving himself completely over to his boyfriend the man who was still fully clothed and scolding him, Ichigo could hear the man growling at him as a small but strong hand spanked his ass with force enough to elicit another beautiful noise from the strawberrys lips.

‘You’re not meant to be enjoying this Kurosaki, clearly I’m not punishing you well enough,’ the three fingers were removed and Ichigo groaned at the loss, aware at the state he must have been in, draped across the desk, his hands balled into fists and his cheek pressing down into the wood. He felt something much larger begin to push inside him and instantly tensed at the intrusion, he was completely new to this.

‘Relax you moron I don’t care if I hurt you which is exactly what I’ll do if you don’t relax.’ Despite his words the boy held off from pushing in further until Ichigo willed his muscles to relax, it was with difficulty but he managed and soon Toshiro was inching back inside him. Pain shot up and down his back and he let a small whimper break his lips feeling his boyfriend falter for a moment at the sound two hands wound their way around his waist and soon a pair of lips were close to his head.

‘Are you alright?’ he had clearly broken character now as he whispered the question with such sincerity that it made Ichigo grin, his beautiful boyfriend was still hidden under there somewhere.

‘Yeah,’ Ichigo whispered back, ‘keep going,’ as soon as the words had left his mouth the prodigy stood back up to full height and thrust the rest of the way in earning a small hiss from the strawberry. Two hands dragged dull nails down his back causing him to arch back off the desk, his head and upper torso pushing up onto his arms a little and a groan escaping his mouth.

‘Shut up and take it like a man,’ Toshiro growled behind him as he pulled out and roughly shoved back in, the feeling sent another pulse of pain down his spine and Ichigo shuddered this time trying not to make a noise, the torture continued like this for a while and Ichigo wondered if he’d get any pleasure from this when the snowy haired man pulled all the way out and growled at him.

‘Flip onto your back,’ he did as he was told, wincing a little at the pain in his ass, Toshiro instructed him to slide up the desk a little and climbed up on top of him. Ichigo realised that the boy was still fully clothed and had merely unzipped his trousers to allow his member out which was standing erect and at attention as he hovered over Ichigo. Two arms were hooked under his legs and they were brought up so that Ichigo could feel himself being folded, then the prodigy pushed back in and Ichigo choked out a loud moan as he hit the strawberrys prostate dead on.

 _‘Oh god! Right there!’_ he barked the instruction louder than he had intended but this pleasure was bliss and it helped all the pain before it shudder into the background somewhere. The prodigy clicked his tongue and pulled back out slamming once again back into the same place as they began to build up a rhythm between them, the sound of sex resonated around the office along with grunts and moans and now with no pain to distract him the sight of the sexy CEO dominating him so aggressively on the desk was pushing Ichigo closer and closer to the edge.

 _‘Fuck T-Toshiro, I’m gonna… fuckkkk…’_ he grunted feeling the pleasure coursing up and down his body, Toshiros small hand slid between them to encase Ichigos engorged member and pumped it in time with his words.

‘It’s Mr Hitsugaya to you,’ he snarled, though the voice was broken slightly by pants it was still heavily convincing and Ichigo moaned loudly, his back arching off the desk as he came hard up his own stomach and chest. His entire body slumped and yet Toshiro had managed to hang on, fucking him still he gave one last deep thrust and shuddered his own release without a noise before pulling out and zipping up his trousers.

‘Clean the mess up Kurosaki,’ he instructed as he leapt off the foot stool and left the room without even glancing back. Ichigo watched him go with a massively confused look on his face, what the hell?

Once he was able to stand up without his legs shaking he quickly made his way to the bathroom, the feeling of sperm exiting his ass wasn’t pleasant and he now had a new found respect for what Toshiro went through every time the two had sex. Once he was sure most of it was out of him he quickly cleaned himself up and exited the bathroom walking over to put his clothes back on. There was a mess on the desk, some residue of sperm was left and the sweat from the two bodies, Ichigo glanced around and under the desk he located an industrial tub of alcoholic wipes which he used to clean the mess up.

Where the hell was Toshiro? He’d been at this for over thirty minutes now and it was now well passed midnight. As soon as the door to the office opened Ichigo looked up and saw the man walking back in with a bag in his hand which he placed on the desk, he smiled at Ichigo.

‘Mr Hitsugaya left, asked me to bring you dinner,’ now that he mentioned it Ichigo could smell the very obvious smell of hot Chinese food through the thin bag and felt his stomach clench.

‘That was nice of you, thank you,’ Ichigo grinned as Toshiro walked around the desk and wrapped his arms around him burying his face into his chest somewhere.

‘That was fun,’ Ichigo laughed wrinkling his nose, ‘though the sperm coming out the ass thing feels horrible, I now have new respect for you handsome.’

‘Yeah it’s not the highlight of it,’ Toshiro chuckled as Ichigo wrapped his arms back around the smaller boy and nuzzled his face into the white locks of hair.

‘Every time I see you being all bossy and CEO-y now I’m going to get turned on.’

‘Don’t wear tight trousers then,’ the soft edge of his voice was back, the side that Ichigo got to see and the strawberry smiled, hooking a finger under his chin to guide his lips up.

‘Hey,’ he whispered against his lips just millimetres before they brushed.

‘Hey,’ Toshiro smiled back happily closing the distance in a long slow kiss at that exact moment the prodigy’s stomach made a loud noise that had Ichigo laughing into the kiss.

‘That would have spoiled the mood had that happened when we were having sex,’ Ichigo laughed and Toshiro swatted at him.

‘Shut up I’ve not eaten since the plane ride,’ he eagerly reached across the desk for the food and examined the desk closely. ‘This is clean right?’

‘Yeah I used your alcohol wipes,’ Ichigo smirked as he pulled some of the food from the bag and soon the two were devouring it hungrily between them. Chatting ceased the moment food containers opened and both boys tucked in but it was a comfortable, companionable silence. Ichigo was full long before Toshiro who suddenly decided to start helping himself to Ichigos food too for such a tiny man he could really pack it away and Ichigo watched him with a smile.

‘Stop smiling at me, I am really hungry, no judging.’ He waved a pair of chopsticks in front of Ichigos face.

‘I’m not judging you just look fucking cute stuffing your face,’ Ichigo stood up and stretched, wincing a little at the pain in his lower back, he’d be feeling some of that in the morning.

‘Ichigo,’ his voice had suddenly turned serious now and Ichigo turned to look at him with a frown.

‘Yeah handsome?’

‘I need to ask a big favour of you but of course you can say no,’

‘What is it?’

‘I need someone to accompany me to London in a weeks time for a premiere, its going to mark the end of this Russian deal. We’ve been calling it a deal but really the deal was made ages ago even though we’ve still had a lot of issues everything. The news will be going out in a couple of days time hence my time here, a lot has been kept under wrap but now it’s all coming into light and I could really use both an assistant and my boyfriend there for moral and work support.’

‘Oh wow so you can finally talk about all this now?’ Ichigo asked as the smaller male quickly ate another spring roll.

‘Technically not really but since news will be going out soon I’ve decided to confide in you about it before anyone else, of course Rukia knows a lot more than you do, she knows the public stuff that has been getting scrutinized.’

‘Wait… public stuff? I’ve not even seen anything.’

‘You’re so obtuse sometimes,’ Toshiro smirked at him, eating another mouthful of noodles and waiting until he swallowed before continuing. ‘Have you heard of Guardians?’

‘Like Guardians of the Galaxy?’

‘Not quite, Guardians is the English name for a massive superhero movie in Russia, when the trailers went viral here there was a lot of push and competition to get the rights to film an English version, Sony, Marvel and Warner Bros were all interested in the rights, but Marvel offered the most money and I already know they’d be able to do the movie justice. So I paired up with them to try and get the deal, we got it ages ago but there have been… lots of issues along the way.’ He rubbed his temple and Ichigo was quivering with excitement.

‘My boyfriend is like a superhero, you work for Marvel.’

‘Not quite in the way you’re referring-‘

‘Shhhh don’t ruin this for me,’ Ichigo chuckled and Toshiro grinned at him before resuming his story.

‘Anyway the movie has been made there’s been stuff about it on IMDB and the trailer has come out I’m really surprised you’ve not heard anything. However in a few nights time that’s when the announcement of my involvement will be made, it’s all been pretty hush hush until then, it’s allowed me to work without too much stress in helping communications stay correct and stop the Russian owners of Guardians getting too upset with the Marvel producers for particular choices.’

‘It sounds really complex but this is so exciting, so we’re going to a Marvel movie premiere?’

‘In essence… yes,’ Toshiro chuckled finally shoving the food away from him and sitting back rubbing his stomach. ‘Would you like to come?’

‘Fuck yes I will, I know you’ll need me to do my job too so don’t worry if you want to get a bit more bossy on me again I won’t mind.’ He grinned at him and those giant teal eyes just rolled knowingly at him.

The hot CEO act was dropped the moment he stretched and rubbed his eyes, clearly exceptionally tired, that was the moment he turned back into adorable boyfriend mode and Ichigo stood up wrapping an arm around him and pulling him close.

‘You go get ready for bed I’ll tidy all this up,’ he muttered and the smaller male nodded into his chest before walking off.

Ichigo packed everything away and walked over towards the inflatable bed where Toshiro had discarded his clothing and sunk under the covers, Ichigo did the same leaving his boxers on and slipped under the covers beside the smaller body which he instantly snuggled into.

‘I ate too much,’ Toshiro mumbled and Ichigo chuckled and lessened his hold on the smaller male who relaxed a little. ‘I’m a big fatty.’

‘Oh god,’ Ichigo was laughing so that the entire air bed was shaking, ‘you’re so cute. I think you deserved to eat all that after today.’ He chuckled running a hand up and down the prodigy’s arm tenderly.

‘Would you still like me if I was fat?’ the sleepy slur in his voice confirmed only one thing, sleepy Tosh was now in full swing.

‘Of course I would, you’d be even cuddlier,’ Ichigo cooed in his ear and Toshiro gave a content hum, snuggling into his chest and breathing in deeply.

‘Okay then, because I like food it tastes good and stuff so that’s good.’

He wasn’t making a lick of sense and Ichigo just chuckled louder.

‘G’night,’ he mumbled finally and Ichigo placed a small kiss on his forehead.

‘Goodnight handsome.’


	18. LONDON BABY!

The week passed in a blur, Ichigo could barely remember it, after the first night spent in the office staying with Toshiro he had only managed to do it another night before it became too risky to continue, it meant that he hadn’t spent as much time with the man as he’d have liked. Ichigo was finding it hard working through his feelings and the best time to tell him how he really felt, he’d been holding off because he knew that the man was clearly very stressed with this whole Russian deal… though as he recently found out it wasn’t a deal anymore.

Ichigo came into the office as he did for work everyday and realised he was early, Rangiku was not in the office yet so Ichigo slipped over to Toshiros office door and pulled out his key to enter. Since Toshiro often locked it from the inside he’d made Ichigo a key, the only other people to have one was security in case something went wrong.

There was no sign of life in the office besides a half drunk cup of coffee on a desk beside a closed laptop and the blow up beds covers were tossed around and slipping off the mattress. Ichigo made his way further inside and noticed the bathroom door was closed over and as he got closer he could hear the sound of a shower. Smiling to himself he walked over and picked up the covers and pillows to toss them back onto the bed so they looked slightly neater, pausing to inhale his boyfriends scent deeply from one of the pillows as he did so. It was a warm comforting scent like some kind of mulled wine and cinnamon that reminded Ichigo of Christmas. He’d just dropped the pillow when the bathroom door opened and Toshiro stepped out, he was in a pair of black work trousers without socks and shirtless with a towel wrapped around his neck to catch the moisture from his wet spikes.

‘Hey Ichigo,’ he smiled the moment he saw him and Ichigo grinned walking over to him and pulled him flush against his chest, two eager pairs of lips met and the strawberry relished the heat emitting from the tiny body and his after shower glow.

‘Good morning handsome, how are you?’ he breathed against his lips as he pulled back a little to meet those stunning giant teal eyes of the man he couldn’t believe was his.

‘Tired, I didn’t get to sleep until 4am this morning and then had to get up early to get showered before everyone came in, I slept through my alarm though.’ He sighed and Ichigo frowned, he didn’t like this, they were due to get on his private jet to go to London it was going to be an overnight flight and Ichigo had prepared by getting plenty of sleep the night before.

‘The minute we get on the plane tonight you go straight to sleep alright handsome?’

‘I think that’s a good idea,’ Toshiro mumbled into his chest heaving a deep sight and snuggling his face into Ichigos leather jacket so that his head was being hidden from view by the black leather. Ichigo chuckled and rubbed soothing circles into his back.

‘Trying to hide from the world? How about a fresh cup of coffee, will that help?’ the smaller male nodded pathetically into Ichigos jacket and the strawberry opened it with an arm so he could kiss the back of the boys wet spikes before pulling away towards the coffee machine.

‘I’m so tired,’ Toshiro slurred as he walked over to the couch and slumped down on it, Ichigo was genuinely concerned now, Toshiro was never like this. Normally the man was always wide awake bright and early and ready to go, he was always a morning person. Ichigo had suffered lack of sleep a couple of nights too but nothing quite to the extent of his small prodigy.

‘Is there anything I can do handsome?’

‘Well,’ Toshiro had tilted his head back against his towel and closed his eyes on the couch, ‘you could always give me a massage, that might help relax me.’

‘You know as well as I do if I touch you like that I won’t be able to stop.’

‘Might help me waken up though,’ he mumbled but he was already falling asleep.

Ichigo brought the coffee over to the couch and placed it on the table before sitting down, the movement jostled him awake and he turned to Ichigo with tired eyes. Now that he was closer, Ichigo could see the dark lines under his eyes and the pale purple lids, he brought a hand up to gently stroke his face, running his thumb across the grey patches under his eyes.

‘That feels good,’ he mumbled with a sigh and Ichigo frowned.

‘Can’t you cancel what you have on this morning?’

‘I can’t,’ he smirked and leaned towards the table to take the steaming hot cup of coffee, ‘we have some important stuff to do today.’

‘We?’ Ichigo quirked a brow as the smaller man hastily sipped at his coffee before standing up.

‘I’m going to show you how to _really_ dress.’

 

* * *

 

The sheer magnitude of the store they were in didn’t even hit Ichigo until he casually glanced at a price tag on one of the items in the ‘cheaper’ section of the store. He felt his heart jump into his throat in embarrassment, he couldn’t afford anything in here. The price tag casually read $2,300 for what looked like a regular suit jacket and Ichigo wondered if it came with a free holiday for the price.

‘We’re putting everything on my tab today,’ Toshiro said as if sensing Ichigos unease beside him.

‘Dolce and Gabbana already received your payment for your tux Mr Hitsugaya it’s ready to go would you like to try it on? We can get your very handsome assistant suited up too.’ The well-dressed woman turned to Ichigo with a flirtatious smile which Ichigo reciprocated. May as well play along and try and throw everyone off the scent since he was sure he was going to be caught staring at Toshiro at some point. As if spotting what had just happened Toshiro kindly asked the woman (called Janet) to accompany him to get his tux and Ichigo was left with a gentleman called Tyler who seemed rather excited at the prospect of dressing up someone with red hair.

‘Do you think we’d get away with a red tie Christina?’ he called across the shop to an older looking lady who reminded Ichigo of Miranda from the Devil Wears Prada.

‘Make it Chris Hemsworth red not Chace Crawford red and for goodness sake match the pocket square or he’ll look ridiculous.’

‘Alright,’ Tyler grinned and next thing Ichigo knew a measuring tape was being pulled across his body, he just stood there doing as he was instructed, his hazel eyes scanning for any sign of his boyfriend.

‘Are you excited?’ Tyler asked smiling up at him and Ichigo grinned back.

‘A little nervous actually, I’ve never been to anything like this before.’

‘I would be freaking out if it were me so don’t worry,’ he hummed and his personality was relaxing Ichigo. He had expected the store to be full of stiff people calling him sir and making him feel stupid and uncomfortable for his lack of knowledge but all the staff were warm, letting their personalities show and at one point two even swore at each other from across the store. Ichigo couldn’t help but laugh and smile along with all the shenanigans.

‘I thought I’d feel uncomfortable being in a store like this but you guys are just so cool.’ He laughed and Tyler smirked at him.

‘Thank you Ichigo, yeah we get a lot of celebrities who don’t like our style but for everyone who doesn’t there’s one who does and sticks with us because of the way we are.’ Tyler was helping Ichigo out of his current leather jacket to check the inside of it.

‘This jacket is stunning, it’s a pity men don’t get away with wearing leather on the red carpet,’ he placed it on a coat hanger and hung it up in the area they were now dominating.

‘Thanks, it’s relatively cheap in comparison to the stuff you guys sell here.’ Ichigo muttered and Tyler laughed.

‘Just because something is high street doesn’t mean it isn’t fabulous,’ he was now lifting up a beautiful tailored white shirt and putting it down on a table while he played with the cuffs. ‘I think the jacket is nice besides I can’t afford the stuff we sell here either even with my staff discount.’ Ichigo grinned at him as he held up the shirt against his face and Tylers blue eyes flickered between the shirt and Ichigos eyes and back again.

‘Yes, this will do nicely,’ he finally agreed after a moment then pointed to a curtain covering a changing room behind Ichigo. ‘I’ll hand the stuff into you,’ he smiled and Ichigo nodded walking over to step into the changing room. It was small but had a comfortable seat and a standard mirror, out in the shop floor was where they had three sided mirrors to see from all sides.

‘He’s a suit boy Tyler, Mr Hitsugaya is in the tux, remember suit,’ Christina called and Ichigo heard the exasperated sigh from Tyler.

‘Yes mom,’ he said sarcastically back and there were a few chuckles from other staff, a large coat hanger was handed through to Ichigo that held a pair of trousers and his shirt on it which Ichigo took changing quickly into both. A plain black leather belt was soon passed through and Ichigo smiled as Tyler suddenly changed his mind and asked for it back. Ichigo opened the curtain and took it off to hand it back.

‘It fit great,’ he smiled at Tyler.

‘Oh it’s not the fit it had a gold buckle, we’re doing silver for you if we do gold with a red tie you’ll look like a walking Christmas decoration,’ he hummed and Ichigo laughed. Christina made her way over and handed him a pair of black leather shoes with a smile.

‘I guessed a 12?’

‘Yeah, how on earth did you…’ Ichigo took the shoes with a surprised look and she winked at him.

‘I’ve been doing this a very long time dear.’

‘Since the stone ages,’ Tyler piped bravely and chuckled at the glare that earned him.

Ichigo was desperate to see Toshiro, he wanted to see him in this tux and he kept tossing looks back over his shoulder which just made Tyler smirk.

‘Now, I don’t read trashy magazines and I know you won’t tell me anything but if you’ve got a crush on your boss you might want to make it a little less obvious.’ Ichigo instantly flushed and looked down at his cuffs which were turned over for Tyler to try a couple of different silver cuff links.

‘I don’t-‘ Ichigo started but Tyler just chuckled at him.

‘Of course not, though I wouldn’t blame you if you had a crush, he’s a very attractive man and I’m straight.’ Tyler hummed and Ichigo spotted the ring on his finger, desperate for a change of subject.

‘How long have you been married?’ he quickly asked and Tyler smirked knowingly but happily accepted the topic change.

‘Me and the Mrs has been together for three years, she blessed me with a beautiful baby girl last year.’

Ichigo grinned and the two started talking about the wedding and his family which helped to keep Ichigos mind focused until he heard Christina and Janet behind him.

‘It looks great Mr Hitsugaya,’ Tyler and Ichigo both turned around and Ichigo felt his breath catch in his throat. The tux they’d picked was very obviously based off the white theme that Toshiro pulled off so well. The tux jacket was an off white almost crème colour compared to the startling white of his shirt and hair, the lapels were laced with satin and a black outer rim. The rim of his pocket was black and he wore elegant black trousers with black shoes. He didn’t wear a tie but instead wore a black bowtie that seemed to tie the entire outfit together, he looked ravishing.

‘He looks good, I can see him being on the list of best dressed men for sure, let’s see if we can get you there too,’ Tyler hummed and Ichigo quickly turned back towards the mirror. He wore a black suit jacket, black trousers that fit him perfectly, black leather shoes and a beautiful white undershirt. In his pocket was folded a crimson red square and Tyler had found a tie to match and was now attempting to tie it around Ichigos neck.

‘Does he look like an Eldrige or Balthus man?’ Tyler asked and both Toshiro and Christina responded at the exact same time.

‘Balthus,’ Christina then scowled at Tyler, ‘really Tyler, Eldrige?’

‘I only just mastered that knot,’ he chuckled as he set about a series of complicated movements to tie the red tie around Ichigos neck before tucking it into his suit jacket. Ichigo had never felt so well dressed before and it didn’t stop there. These were simply the outfits for the red carpets, Toshiro insisted on getting Ichigo a number of other shirts and jackets and trousers and shoes and belts and cuffs and ties for other social events they’d likely be attending in London.

Once the fitting was done both men changed back into the clothes they’d used to arrive in store, the total for their shopping came to a cost that Ichigo was sure he’d be able to use to purchase a 5 bedroom family house in New York somewhere and yet Toshiro didn’t even bat an eye. He spoke with Christina - who turned out to be the store manager - and arranged for everything to be delivered to his private jet later on that day.

‘No problem Mr Hitsugaya, you know we never let you down.’ Toshiro smiled pleasantly at her as the two men left to get into their ride. Charlie drove them back in the direction of the office and Ichigo smiled over at him, knowing that the coms to the driver were offline.

‘You looked really good in that Tux,’ Ichigo cooed and Toshiro just smirked and shook his head.

‘Wait until we’re back at the office,’ he mumbled at him then straightened back up, ‘did everything fit okay?’

‘Yeah it did, thank you that was a lot of money.’ Ichigo frowned and Toshiro just snorted waving his hand.

‘I invited you to the premiere it wouldn’t be fair to leave you to fork out all that money for a name.’

‘A name?’

‘Yes when people ask you who you’re wearing your answer will be?’

‘Dolce and Gabbana?’

‘Exactly,’ Toshiro stretched his arms out in front of him and Ichigo smiled.

‘Well I appreciate it none the less,’ the sound of Toshiros phone sounded through the car and Toshiro quickly pulled the small device out and answered it.

‘Hey Rukia,’ he said and Ichigo decided to just take this time to stare at the man again, he lifted a hand up to rub his brow as she spoke down the phone, Ichigo could hear her voice but couldn’t make out what was being said. ‘Okay good, I trust you, so he’ll just meet us when we get off the plane? Sure. He’s how old? Jesus that’s young… yes I know,’ Toshiro was scowling down the phone, ‘don’t talk to me like I’m a child I know I’m young. Don’t push your mommy hormones on me,’ he smirked then hesitated, ‘how have you been feeling?’ He was silent for a while as Rukia clearly filled him in on her condition and Toshiro perked up a bit, ‘okay that’s good right? Yeah? Well keep us posted, we’re both worried about you.’ Ichigo nodded enthusiastically from his side knowing that Toshiro was including him in that ‘us.’ Toshiro smiled and nodded his head, ‘alright Rukia thank you, take it easy, bye.’

‘How is she?’

‘She’s doing better,’ Toshiro relaxed and it looked like some of the stress was lifting from him.

‘Rukia loves her job Toshiro any stress on her and baby isn’t your fault,’ Ichigo frowned, not wanting his diminutive boyfriend to shoulder more guilt than necessary.

‘I know,’ he shrugged, ‘but I still worry.’

‘So what are the plans now?’ Ichigo glanced at his watch and couldn’t believe it was dinner time, they’d gone out the office after lunch.

‘What do you want for food? We can pick something up to go.’

‘I’m not fussed whatever you’re in the mood for handsome,’ Ichigo smiled and Toshiro pulled out his phone to pre-order their order at wagamamas.

Once Ichigo had run out to collect it – he was the assistant after all – and they’d made their way back into the office. Ichigo realised that a few extra people seemed to be staying on past the usual finishing times of 5pm and 6pm.

‘They’re getting ready for this red carpet event as well,’ Toshiro mumbled as they made their way into his office. No one seemed to be batting an eyelid at Ichigo staying late since the announcement of Hitsugaya industries in the involvement of the cinematic release and production almost everyone was now staying late to finish work other than just Toshiro and himself, giving the boys perfect cover.

‘Literally once we’re done eating we’ll need to get ready to head to the airport,’ Toshiro rubbed his forehead, his suitcase was beside his blow up bed, Ichigo had stashed his inside Toshiros office as well just to keep it safe while he was out. He didn’t trust Rangiku enough for her not to go through it to scrutinize what he was taking to London while he was out shopping with Toshiro. Ichigo placed the food down on his desk and turned in time to two hands fisting his leather jacket and dragging him down for a kiss. He was rather shocked and it took him a moment to register before he responded, kissing back eagerly.

‘You looked good in that suit,’ Toshiro growled against his lips, ‘I wanted to jump you in that shop.’

‘I wanted to jump you too,’ Ichigo groaned moving back in for another kiss. The make out session turned hotter when Ichigo hoisted Toshiro up onto the desk and the prodigy locked his legs around Ichigo, two obvious erections were grinding against each other.

‘We can’t,’ Toshiro mumbled.

‘Why not?’

‘We don’t have time.’

‘I won’t last long I promise.’

That answer earned a chuckle from Toshiro as he pulled away to breathe in deep lungfuls of air. ‘Believe me I want to but we need to leave for our flight in the next thirty minutes and we have food to eat.’

‘Mmmm,’ Ichigo groaned, both of them were still grinding their hips together, their erections desperate for friction. ‘Who knows how long before I’ll get to be with you again physically?’

‘Don’t be dramatic, we’ll be out in the open when we come back from London,’ he hissed as Ichigo finally pulled his body away and both boys took a bit of time to try and calm down.

Food was eaten in a hasty rush when Charlie the driver called to let Toshiro know he was on his way and Toshiro left the empty tubs in his office stating that he’d text Rangiku to let the cleaners in the next day. He’d left the key to his office in her desk, trusting her implicitly to help run things for him while they were both gone.

Ichigo helped Charlie load the suitcases into the boot before sliding into the car beside Toshiro.

‘Now, I can’t normally sleep on planes,’ Toshiro mumbled as he pulled out his whisky and poured himself a glass, ‘but this normally helps.’

‘Sure it does handsome,’ Ichigo smirked, leaning over to happily take the glass from him that he was offered.

‘A toast, to London,’ Toshiro smiled and raised his glass and Ichigo touched it with his own.

‘I am excited,’ he replied, ‘I meant to ask you why Marvel were having the red carpet event in the UK instead of Hollywood?’

‘Ah that, is one of the things that I’ve been having issues with, to a cut a very _long_ story short Russia aren’t in the best… political relationship with the USA so having the premiere somewhere more er… neutral was part of the negotiations,’ he waved his glass, ‘anyway I don’t want to get into all that it’s behind me now thank fuck.’

‘Alright babe I don’t blame you, you’re going to be so glad when this is over aren’t you?’

‘I’m going to be taking three fucking weeks off,’ he smirked.

‘Is that a promise?’ Ichigo smirked his eyes wide and happy.

‘I am you’re not,’ he laughed and Ichigo made a face at him.

 

* * *

 

The jet was exactly as Ichigo remembered it and he happily settled down in the large lush seat beside his boyfriend seat as Toshiro went into the bathroom to change into something more comfortable. Before he’d gone through he’d cut the camera and restricted one way emergency communications with the pilot instructing them that he wanted privacy to sleep. Apparently this is what he often did during any long flights where he was going to try and sleep. He came back through dressed in a pair of sweats with a comfortable looking baggy t-shirt that Ichigo recognised.

‘Is that… one of my t-shirts?’ he asked leaning forward and examining it, it was a t-shirt he’d gotten from a Breaking Benjamin concert and he’d wondered where he’d lost it.

‘Correction, it _was_ one of your t-shirts. It’s mine now.’ Toshiro climbed up onto the massive seat and looked so tiny and cute and _sexy_ in Ichigos clothing that the strawberry had to fight back the urge to kiss him.

‘Well it looks much better on you,’ Ichigo smiled and Toshiro smirked back lifting his small left hand and making a whipping noise. ‘Hey! I am not whipped!’

‘Oh you so are,’ Toshiro chuckled, his seat had been laid at an angle just a foot away from completely horizontal as the smaller male lay down face first into a giant comfortable looking pillow, his bare feet sticking out the bottom part of the cover as he tried to position it just right over his body.

‘No I’m not,’ Ichigo groaned as he lifted the cover and fixed it so that it covered the boy completely and he wouldn’t be left with cold feet. When Ichigo sat back down he was met with an amused stare and pursed lips. ‘Fine, maybe I am a little.’

It wasn’t long after this that Ichigo was reaching down into his own bag to pull out his book.

‘What are you reading?’ sleepy Toshiro was back again and Ichigo looked over at the closed purple lips of his boyfriend, frowning slightly, for once he wasn’t happy for sleepy Toshiro to be here, his boyfriend needed his rest.

‘Harry Potter the Goblet of Fire, for about the umpteenth time,’

‘Read to me? I love Harry Potter,’ the boy mumbled and Ichigo opened the book from where left off and began to read to him. It seemed this helped and Toshiros heavy breathing and light snoring soon filled the silence of the planes cabin. Toshiro never snored except when he was very exhausted but the sound did not bother Ichigo in the slightest, he set an alarm on his watch to wake the two of them up in 6 hours since that would be the time they were arriving in London. Since the flight had left about 8:30pm they’d be in London for about 8:30am considering the time differences between the two locations, the hotel they were staying in was about a 40 minute drive from the airport, thankfully they were leaving on a Friday night and arriving on a Saturday morning so there would be no morning rush hour traffic. Ichigo contemplated then decided that Toshiro could afford another couple of hours sleep once they got to the hotel.

Ichigo shut off his own lights and settled down to sleep, the sound of the plane engines was steady just like Toshiros occasional snores and soon Ichigo found himself slipping into an easy slumber.

 

He woke with a start when his alarm sounded and he groggily sat up and rubbed sleep from his eyes after shutting it off. He turned over to wake up his boyfriend who looked completely out of it and grumbled as he was woken up, pulling his cover up over his head.

‘Come on handsome, time to get up.’ Ichigo cooed at him, ‘just for an hour or two then we can get you into bed at the hotel for another couple of hours sleep okay?’

‘Don’t wanna… too comfy.’

‘I know handsome,’ Ichigo had leaned over to slip his hand under the cover and rub soothing circles into the boys back, ‘just an hour or two I promise and I’ll get you back to bed, but we’re going to be landing soon and you don’t want to get off the plane in a pair of sweats.’

That seemed to stir the prodigy awake more and he groaned as he pushed himself up and rubbed his eyes, the cover slipped off onto the floor and the warm cocoon he’d been enclosed in caused him to shudder against the temperature of the rest of the cabin.

‘Alright I’m up, I’ll go get changed,’ he mumbled as he slipped off his chair and made his way towards the bathroom. Ichigo stood up and decided to just change into clean clothes in the cabin before he walked over and turned on full audio and visual for the pilot.

‘We’ll be landing in about fifteen minutes Mr Kurosaki so please make sure you fasten your seatbelt.’

‘Will do,’ he went back to his chair and sat down to buckle in as Toshiro came out of the bathroom looking a lot better but still exhausted in a regular pair of black trousers and white shirt, it was a tad more casual than what he normally wore out in public when being the eye of Hitsugaya industries but what people would expect of a long distance flight. He sat down beside Ichigo and buckled in stifling a yawn and Ichigo resisted the urge to reach out to him knowing fine well he was now able to be seen by the pilot. The boys watched out the window as they touched down and Toshiro stretched as he removed his seat belt.

‘We’ll be meeting the new publicist shortly.’

‘Oh are they waiting for us when we get off the plane?’ Ichigo asked remember the call with Rukia and wondering now if that was what had been discussed.

‘Yeah he is, apparently he’s a little sassy.’ Toshiro smirked at Ichigo as he frowned.

‘Sassy?’

‘British humour,’ they made their way off the plane and their luggage was being taken to their driver as they made their way into the airport terminal. Once through security it did not take them long before they spotted the publicist who was standing leaning over a chair with a sign that said ‘Hitsugaya’ on it. Instantly Ichigo was on edge, the boy was about a head shorter than himself but still taller than Toshiro, he looked young probably around 22 years old and he was fairly attractive. Somewhat long dishevelled blond spikes protruded from underneath a black newsboy cap completely covering his left eye from view, a long black overcoat housed a white cravat which partially hid the boys neck, his only visible eye was a deep emerald green but housed a rather bored expression as they both made their way over to him, Ichigo also noticed that he wore an ear piece in his right ear with a small microphone attached, a small cable coming down into his jacket clearly going to his phone which was no double hidden in a pocket somewhere.

‘You must be Yukio,’ Toshiro smiled as he held out a hand the blond took it with a casual smile.

‘Yes I am, you’re very obviously Mr Hitsugaya and you must be Ichigo?’ the blond nodded to Ichigo who smiled back at him and took his hand.

‘Could spot you two a mile away, white and red hair it’s like the start of a bad joke.’

‘Excuse me?’ Ichigo frowned at him.

‘What’s black and white and red all over? Please tell me they have jokes in New York City else you guys won’t last five minutes with our humour,’ he smirked at them and turned to a confused looking Asian woman beside him. ‘You want this? It’s free.’ He handed her the sign with the name ‘Hitsugaya’ on it and strode away from her leaving her looking rather confused as the two boys quickly followed to keep up with his strides.

‘The driver is waiting outside, he’s just thrilled to pay the additional parking charges because your flight was a bit late.’ It was hard to tell if the boy was joking or being serious at all and it was rubbing Ichigo up the wrong way.

‘Are you being sarcastic?’ Ichigo asked frowning at the back of the boys blond head.

‘Oh god no, I’m _never_ sarcastic.’

‘I like him,’ Toshiro whispered leaning over to Ichigo who just scowled deeper.

‘I think he’s a bit of a pompous git,’ Ichigo whispered back but Toshiro just smirked up at him. They walked outside towards a black car and Yukio opened the door for them to get in, he made a point of fixing his emerald eye onto Ichigo as he spoke.

‘Your chariot awaits my lady.’

Ichigo didn’t have a clue how to respond to him as he heard Toshiro chuckle and instead just slipped into the back of the 6 passenger Lincoln limo without a retort. Yukio slipped in beside them and stopped speaking to them as he brought a hand up to press a button on his ear piece.

‘Yukio, speak.’

While he was on the call Ichigo had folded his arms and glared out the window, he wasn’t sure what was getting him more annoyed, the fact Toshiro liked him or the fact the blond seemed to sense that Ichigo didn’t appreciate his sense of humour and now appeared to be teasing him about it.

His bad mood was forgotten when Toshiro gave a loud yawn and Ichigo turned to him with concerned eyes once again. He went to reach out towards the younger male but quickly stopped when he remembered that he wasn’t allowed to be his boyfriend right now, he was just his assistant. As soon as they made it into the comfort of their hotel suit though he’d turn back into concerned boyfriend and demand Toshiro go straight to bed, that thought brought a little comfort to him for the next 40 minutes of the car ride while Yukio continued to wind him up with little sarcastic jibes.


	19. The New Publicist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I adore Yukio so much... didn't like him in the anime but had fun making my own version of his character. His design is also adorable!

As soon as they got to the Canary Riverside Hotel, Ichigo had found it ten times more difficult not to play concerned boyfriend. Toshiro had managed to sleep on the flight but he was still partially unaware about what he was really doing. He even bumped into a pillar in the main lobby and gazed at it as if he weren’t quite sure where it had come from. The only good thing about this entire situation was that the cocky little British blond had suddenly become helpful. People were walking up to Toshiro asking for selfies and both Ichigo and Yukio had stepped forward to advise people not at that moment. Well, Ichigo had advised ‘not right now’ and Yukio had advised ‘fuck off,’ but at least they were on a similar(ish) wavelength.

 

‘Penthouse keys Mr Hitsugaya,’ the charming lady with bright red hair said handing over two gold key cards. Toshiro took them with a polite nod and Ichigo instantly removed them from his grasp. He frowned up at him but Ichigo was already leading him towards the golden elevators.

‘Ichigo wait,’ Yukio ran over and handed him a silver key card and Ichigo blinked down at it.

‘What’s this for?’

‘So you’ll make it less obvious,’ Yukio smirked at him and Ichigo scowled. He’d had enough of the kids’ bullshit.

‘Make what less obvious?’ Ichigo didn’t mean to snap but he had a very tired Toshiro to get to bed and the blond was now delaying that process. Yukio rolled his eyes and waved a hand.

‘Just take the damn key,’ he muttered and Ichigo scowled once more before proceeding into the elevator. The penthouse was on the top floor naturally and it was stunning. The entire suit consisted of two bedrooms, a living room area complete with TV and dining area along with a stunning view of the river Thames. Ichigo was excited to look around but Toshiro was already kicking his shoes back off and unbuttoning buttons heading towards the nearest available bedroom. Ichigo quickly followed him laughing as the boy stripped off and tossed his shirt without a care in the world to the floor. He then sat on the edge of the bed and kicked off his black trousers as Ichigo walked over and began pulling out the ridiculously tightly tucked in sheets. Toshiro was crawling over in his boxers and slipped into the bed as Ichigo reached down to pick up his trousers and shit and put them over a random chair in the room.

‘Good night,’ Toshiro mumbled he already sounded like he was asleep and Ichigo grinned pulling out his phone and setting an alarm for a couple of hours time. They’d be up in time for breakfast at least and shed his own clothing before slipping into bed beside Toshiro. The prodigy was already out cold and Ichigo tried not to jostle the bed too much as he slipped in close beside him to snuggle down.

A few hours later and his alarm was going off, Ichigo rolled over and switched the device off before turning back, as soon as he did so he was greeted by two large teal eyes.

‘Good morning handsome,’ Ichigo grinned, snuggling closer to the smaller male who nuzzled in closer to him.

‘Morning, I’m awake now I promise.’ He mumbled and rolled on top of Ichigos chest causing the taller of the two to grin down at him.

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes, you’re just comfy, not my fault.’ He had his cheek pressed against Ichigos solid chest and the taller male wrapped his arms around him. Then his phone was ringing and they both groaned glancing over to where Ichigo had placed his trousers over the chair.

‘I’ll get it,’ Ichigo shifted to move out from under the boy but Toshiro made a noise of annoyance at the movement and Ichigo felt his hand enclose around his arm.

‘Just leave it.’

‘It might be important.’

‘I doubt it.’

‘It might be Rangiku or Rukia,’ Ichigo was smiling and he couldn’t help it. Perhaps it was selfishness but he was insanely happy that he and only he got to see this side of the big CEO. To everyone else he was impressive, dominating and stoic but when they were alone he was nothing but a cuddly little pile of fluff.

‘Mmm,’ he mumbled into Ichigos chest. The phone stopped and then went back off again. ‘S’not them, they have their own ring tones,’ he mumbled his hands wrapping under Ichigos shoulders and he pulled himself up so he could nuzzle into his neck.

‘Someone’s very affectionate today,’ Ichigo chuckled tracing a finger up and down his back.

‘By paying you some attention I hope to save myself issues in the future,’ he chuckled and Ichigo frowned, just what the hell did that mean? As if sensing his unasked question Toshiro continued. ‘I’m going to be on TV a lot and there may be… fans, I just want you to know that you’re my boyfriend and my affection is for you regardless of what happens with others outside the bedroom.’

‘Alright,’ Ichigo blinked, he hadn’t really thought about it but now that it was mentioned Toshiro was right. There would likely be a lot of fan girling and Ichigo wasn’t quite sure how he’d feel about it. Already Yukio gave him a weird feeling in his stomach and he wasn’t sure why.

Toshiros phone went off again and this time the prodigy turned to glare at it from across the room. Then there was someone knocking at the door.

‘Shit,’ Ichigo and Toshiro both leapt out of bed and scrambled around to get their clothes on. The entire ordeal was intercepted with the occasional chuckle as Ichigo brushed by him to collect his shirt from the floor and stole a kiss.

The knocking at the door became a persistent rap and Ichigo threw himself into the bathroom as Toshiro went to answer the door.

Ichigo made it look like he was just walking out of the bathroom when Toshiro pulled the door open to see a rather annoyed looking Yukio who was still knocking against the air where the door had been.

Without being invited he walked in and Ichigo scowled at him as he threw himself down onto the couch. Rather shocked and a little amused Toshiro shut the door in his wake.

‘You two had better not been having sex.’ Yukio scowled.

‘We were not having sex,’ Toshiro had morphed back into that impressive stoic business man and the way he said it made Ichigo do a double take. His tone had been so convincing that he could easily have said that they two weren’t dating and even Ichigo would have believed it. Yukio narrowed his only visible emerald eye as he glanced between the two of them. Ichigo tried to look impassive but he wasn’t as good at it as Toshiro.

‘Then next time answer the phone,’ Yukio sighed leaning back into the couch.

‘You were the one calling me?’ Toshiro asked, ‘why?’

‘To ask you on a date.’

Ichigos face fell and he glared daggers at the back of the blonds head, opening his mouth and taking a bold step forward he was stopped by Toshiro holding up a hand.

‘What did you really want Yukio?’ Toshiro asked, his voice still a little amused.

‘They’re wanting to know if you’d be interested in appearing as a guest on the Graham Norton show sometime this week? You’ve got three free nights and I didn’t want to fill them up without your consent,’ Yukio had turned around on the couch to look at them and Ichigo sighed and walked around the couch so he wouldn’t have to strain his neck. He wondered for a moment why he was being so nice to the blond and almost walked back to where he’d stood before, maybe a little further left so if the blond tried to turn around again he’d maybe snap his neck. The thought was enough to cause a wicked grin to appear on his face for a moment before it vanished.

‘Yeah actually, who are the other guests?’ Toshiro asked as he continued to watch the blond.

‘Well they’re calling me back in a couple of hours to check, I had to tell them to call back because you wouldn’t answer your phone because you were _busy_ or something.’ He glanced at Ichigo when he said the word busy and rolled his eyes.

‘You’re an obnoxious little twat aren’t you?’ Ichigo scowled at him and bit his lower lip that was meant to be inside his head, he hadn’t really meant to say that out loud.

‘Thank you for noticing,’ Yukio smiled at him and looked genuinely touched.

‘Alright then, lets get you boys fed because Dad has work to do,’ it was now Toshiros turn to roll his eyes as he went over to where Ichigo left his suitcase.

‘ _Oh but dad_ ,’ Yukio whined frowning at him. Ichigo scowled and glared at the blond, was he seriously flirting with his boss? Wait… that’s exactly how Ichigo had got with him. That thought made him even more paranoid, he glanced nervously over towards Toshiro who still seemed to be smiling at the blonds antics. Did he _like_ him? Ichigos eyes flew back to the blond who was sat on the couch going through a pager in his hands. Sure he was attractive, in a… blond… boy band kind of way. Though he was really sure Toshiro had a thing for taller men, certainly it had been one of the things that Toshiro had said he liked about him… well… sleepy Tosh had said it at one point so he wasn’t entirely sure that counted. Toshiro came back with his laptop and sat down on the couch close to Yukio as he placed it on the small table in front of them. Was he sitting too close to Yukio? Did that mean something? Ichigo scowled at himself, he was being absurd. This was what Toshiro was talking about. Only Ichigo got to see him when he was being all cute when they were alone.

‘Are we ordering room service or should we go down to one of the restaurants?’ Ichigo asked as he stared directly at Toshiro. He didn’t really want the blond to feel like he was being invited.

‘I think room service should do,’ Toshiro hummed and pointed to the phone over on a table beside the TV.

‘Alright,’ Ichigo stood up and walked over to the phone, picking it up. There were menus beside the phone and he picked them up and looked through them. He dialled the number and glanced up as it was ringing. ‘What am I ordering?’

‘Just get me a chicken club sandwich or a chicken wrap with salad and chips,’ Toshiro said, not glancing up from his computer screen. A woman answered on the other side of the phone.

‘Hello there, I’d like to order room service to room 701, Mr Hitsugayas room.’

‘Certainly sir, what would you like to order?’

‘Can I get a chicken club sandwich with salad and chips?’ he asked and glanced over to Toshiro, ‘what drink do you want with that? I think it’s a bit early for whisky.’ Ichigo smirked and watched as a middle finger was raised into the air and directed at him from his boyfriend.

‘Lemonade will be fine.’

‘Can I get lemonade with that? Also can I get a beef cheese burger with onion rings and another lemonade?’

‘Can I get a pizza,’ Yukio asked looking up hopefully a smile on his face, ‘with no mushrooms.’

‘Can I get a pizza please with extra mushrooms?’

Toshiros teal eyes flickered up to his, he was biting on his lip to hide his smile.

‘Extra, extra mushrooms.’

‘Okay then and a diet coke?’ Yukio tried again.

‘And a full fat coke please.’

‘Sure is that everything?’

‘Yes that’s everything.’

‘Alright it will be about half an hour.’

He hung up the phone and ignored Yukio as he went to sit back down on the chair.

‘I knew he didn’t like me,’ Yukio chuckled as he glanced back down at his hand held planner. ‘At least you’ve got a sense of humour.’ The blond was smiling and Ichigo scowled, he’d wanted to upset the blond not entertain him.                                                                           

 

Ichigo had put the TV on in the background as the other two boys worked away on their electronic devices while they waited on their food. The knock at the door had Ichigo bounding over, he hadn’t realised how hungry he was.

‘Come in,’ he greeted the woman kindly as he held open the door and she pushed a tray of food in. She pointed out what was under each closhe before she took her leave and Ichigo went about removing Toshiros food to take it over to the table for him. He then went back for his own but ignored Yukio which only caused the blond to grin and toss him a playful look.

‘Thanks Ichigo,’ he noted sarcastically and Ichigo spotted the smile on Toshiros lips as those teal eyes met his own for a few seconds before the small boy tucked into his food.

‘Are you going to eat that if you don’t like mushrooms?’ Ichigo asked as he watched Yukio take his pizza over to the table.

‘I love mushrooms, I just wanted to see what you’d do with the information.’

Ichigo narrowed his eyes at him and watched as he tucked into a large slice of pizza.

‘I suppose you like full fat coke too then?’

‘You guessed it.’

‘You got played,’ Toshiro smirked over at him, his eyes twinkling.

‘I suppose you knew that?’ Ichigo scowled at the boy genius.

‘Yes, but it was still funny to watch.’

They ate mostly in silence except for the occasional comment here and there in between mouthfuls. Then the silence was interrupted by the sound of Yukios ear piece ringing, he quickly touched the headset in his ear.

‘Yukio- speak.’ He sat in silence for a while toying with the final slice of his pizza as he listened. ‘Alright, I’ll see you soon.’

‘I have a very important meeting in the lobby down stairs, it’s likely I’ll just take the Graham Norton show call from downstairs.’ He said as he stood up, lifting his dirty dishes up and putting them back on the trolley before quickly exiting the room.

‘I don’t like him.’ Ichigo scowled pretty much as soon as the door closed.

‘I find him very amusing,’ Toshiro smirked from over his laptop.

‘Do you like him?’ the words left his mouth before he could stop them and even he cringed at how pathetically needy they sounded leaving his lips. Toshiro pursed his lips and reached up to close his laptop over.

‘Now what would give you that idea?’

‘He makes you smile.’

‘You make me smile.’

‘I don’t know,’ Ichigo mumbled and looked away and Toshiro chuckled, standing and making his way over to sit on his lap.

‘Remember what I said earlier, I only want to be with you and only you.’ Toshiro was playing with Ichigos collar as he said it, ‘and that other people might like me.’ He was smiling as he said it, ‘and that’s okay because only you get to lie next to me in bed?’

‘Yes,’ Ichigo tried not to look like a sulky two year old as Toshiro leaned in and kissed his cheek.

‘Well then, let’s end this torment, I think we should go down to the lobby and see who this important meeting is with.’

‘What?’ Ichigo frowned not fully understanding as Toshiro slipped off his lap and took his hand.

‘Let’s go,’ Toshiro picked up the card keys that Ichigo had left on the table and they made their way out of the room and towards one of the elevators.

It took a lot of Ichigos will power to not kiss him in the elevator. It took a lot of Ichigos will power to not just kiss him all the time they were together but he figured he was getting better at it.

When the elevator opened they stepped out into the lobby and Toshiro glanced around before making his way around a corner that led to a very expensive looking section with comfortable looking leather chairs and couches. In the middle of the vast array of expensive looking leather was Yukio but he wasn’t alone. He _really_ wasn’t alone.

He was in the lap of a taller looking male with dark black hair and he didn’t seem keen to detach himself even when Toshiro cleared his throat loudly to announce their arrival.

‘They’re a bit busy,’ Ichigo smirked feeling miles better. The smaller blond had his tongue very far down this guys throat.

‘No shit Sherlock,’ Toshiro chuckled as they walked over to one of the couches and took a seat in the space.

‘You knew he was with someone?’

‘The entire time,’ Toshiro was smirking at him as they spoke in hushed whispers.

‘How?’

‘You’re so obtuse, did you seriously miss the ring around his finger? He’s a married man.’

‘WHAT!?’ Ichigo turned back to the blond and it was hard to see from the way his fingers were threading through the guys long dark hair but sure enough there was a flash of silver around the appropriate finger. How on earth did he miss that? Now that he saw it he couldn’t take his eyes off it as the blond finally detached himself from the taller male.

‘I think we have company,’ the taller male had an intelligent looking face and strong jaw line.

‘Yes it appears we do,’ Yukio leaned back and turned to face the duo that were sat watching them on the couch.

‘You must be Yukios husband,’ Toshiro smiled standing up straight and walking over to offer out his hand. The man took it and broke into a charming grin. ‘I’m Mr Hitsugaya, this is my assistant Ichigo,’ as he introduced him Ichigo stepped forward and shook his hand too.

‘It’s lovely to meet you, would it be funny if I said I wasn’t Yukios husband?’ the blond smacked him playfully as he slipped off his lap. ‘I’m joking of course, yes I am I am Shukuro but you can call me Kuro if you want.’

‘Alright Kuro it’s nice to finally meet you, Yukio has told us literally nothing about you.’ Toshiro smiled pleasantly and Ichigo glanced at him, he was charming when he wanted to be and suddenly he was excited about what would happen on these upcoming talk shows he was due to go on. The last one had been a disaster but he was sure that Toshiro was over it now, he certainly seemed a little more relaxed about the ones he had coming this week.

‘Why does that not surprise me?’ Kuro smirked at Yukio who looked with a deadpan expression back at him. Then his phone was ringing again and he touched his ear piece.

‘Yukio, speak,’ he walked away from the conversing group as Ichigo and Toshiro took up residency on seats closer to Kuro.

‘Is he always so…’ Ichigo glanced back at Yukio and looked around as if searching for the right words.

‘Yes he is,’ Kuro laughed, ‘he’s always just like that.’

‘How did you two meet?’ Toshiro asked the polite question and Kuro smiled.

‘Literally we worked for the same company, we were both journalists and decided we hated uprooting peoples lives and decided we wanted to protect privacy rather than expose it. So we both left at the same time, but he sort of just chose me and I didn’t really have much of a say.’ He didn’t at all seem like he cared about that as the blond bounded over towards them. Yukio made some hand gestures and Kuro stood up as the blond began to investigate pockets of his husbands’ jeans. Seeing Yukio with the taller male was like watching a completely different Yukio. The blond pouted as he struggled to find what he needed and Kuro smiled down at him.

‘Use your words,’ he whispered and Yukio pointed to the piece in his ear as he made a frantic sign with his hands.

‘Back pocket,’ Kuro chuckled and Yukio ran around his other side to investigate his back pocket before holding up his wallet in success.

Ichigo was grinning at them, he was grinning because he suddenly realised more than anything that this was exactly what he wanted to have with Toshiro. He rarely thought about marriage or the future too much because Toshiros job was so unpredictable but now watching as Yukio came around to stand on his tip toes for his husband to bend down and press a chaste kiss to his lips, he realised that this was what he wanted.

His eyes flickered towards Toshiro who was smiling pleasantly at them as well and he wondered if the genius was thinking the same thing.

‘What are you doing with that?’ Kuros voice had changed into a scolding tone as Yukio held up a credit card with a grin. He made more significant hand gestures that clearly his husband seemed to understand. ‘I want it straight back when you’re done,’ he frowned at him and Yukio rolled his eyes. He mouthed _yes mum_ at him before walking away.

‘He’s terrible with money,’ Kuro said as he glanced nervously over his shoulder to the small blond boy. ‘I am in charge of finances, the last time he had the credit card he bought an ice cream van.’

Okay so maybe Ichigo didn’t want him and Toshiros relationship to be _exactly_ like this one. He couldn’t imagine the genius purchasing something so obscure anyway but the more he thought about it the more he realised _he_ was much more likely to purchase something random.

‘What did he do with the ice cream van?’ Toshiro asked, clearly as amused as Ichigo felt.

‘Once he ate all the ice cream he threw up for five days then gave it back,’ Kuro sighed and shook his head as the blond made his way back over handing the card back to Kuro who took it.

‘No,’ Yukio scowled with a horrified look on his face. ‘Are you thick? You want to have Mr Hitsugaya on the show the same day as Donald Trump?’

Instantly all of the men were cringing and Ichigo felt his heart drop, no way would Toshiro go on a show with him.

‘No, nothing at all to do with his _claimed_ sexuality,’ Yukio scowled, ‘having two business men of power on a couch together would be awkward and uncomfortable for everyone and I think Graham Norton would agree, pick a better day or we’ll withdraw.’

Toshiro grinned at Ichigo and the strawberry felt another rush for the blond, he was very fucking good at his job.

‘Oh,’ Yukios eyes went wide and he glanced directly at Toshiro, ‘Daniel Radcliff and Emily Blunt?’

Instantly both Toshiro and Ichigo were nodding their heads enthusiastically and Kuro had to walk away to stop himself laughing.

‘Yes that sounds perfect, tomorrow night?’ Toshiro nodded his head again and Yukio gave him a thumbs up. ‘Yes that’s perfect, I know its short notice but in the dresser could you have a lavish Scottish whiskey and ice ready for him?’

Toshiro grinned up at Ichigo and he wanted to hug him but his hand twitched uselessly by his side. He couldn’t touch him, he wasn’t allowed to touch him, he was his assistant right now not his boyfriend.

‘Alright perfect, thank you. Yes myself and his assistant Ichigo will be there.’ He nodded a couple more times then hung up after a final farewell and they all let out celebratory whoops together.

‘HARRY POTTER!’ the blond practically shouted, ‘you’re going to get to meet Harry Potter,’ he laughed and Ichigo laughed with him.

‘I adore him,’ Ichigo turned towards Toshiro and almost went to hug him but last minute pulled his hands back up to run them through his hair instead. ‘Do you think we’ll be able to get autographs?’

‘I don’t know, good work Yukio,’ Toshiro turned to blond with a grin. ‘Thanks for getting me away from Trump.’

‘Celebratory drinks tonight I think?’ Kuro smiled and Toshiro nodded.

‘Yes, most definitely, let me take you two out for some thank you drinks.’ Toshiro smiled and Yukio grinned.

‘Sure, that sounds good,’ the blond smirked up at Ichigo, ‘if your boyfriend is done being jealous.’

‘I’m not his boyfriend-‘

‘Oh cut the crap Ichigo,’ Yukio laughed. ‘And use that damn room I got you. If there’s anyone lurking about in the lobby beside Toshiros room the last thing you need is them seeing you go in and not coming back out.’

‘I am not-‘

‘Let it go Ichigo,’ Toshiro shook his head with a smile, ‘Yukio is clearly more astute than you are.’

‘I see the way you look at him, the way you start to move or lean in towards him.’ Yukio smirked and Kuro grinned. ‘Don’t worry your secret is safe with us.’

‘What made you get into publicity instead Yukio?’ Toshiro asked, ‘Kuro said it was because you wanted to protect privacy.’

‘Ah yes,’ his face fell a little. ‘I was getting sick of living the leech life, exposing secrets of others. I was very good at it, able to spot all the signs, that’s why I had you two figured out the moment you stepped off that plane. I was _too_ good at it. Something never felt right, I never felt happy.’ He ran a hand down his face, ‘maybe it was my conscience or whatever I don’t know but me and Kuro realised that because we were so good at exposing secrets we’d be very good at keeping them.’

‘Because we knew how a journalist mind works, we’re much more adept at predicting their movements and likely outcomes.’ Kuro added as he wrapped an arm around Yukios side to pull the blond in close towards him.

‘That makes a lot of sense, well I’m very pleased to have you on Team Hitsugaya,’ Toshiro smiled at him. ‘Who is your client Kuro?’ Toshiro asked turning to the male who was easily two feet taller than him.

‘My client is so famous I have my hands full with him,’ he laughed, ‘its Benedict Cumberbatch.’

‘Sherlock?’ Ichigo felt his eyes go wide and tried not to have a fan girl moment.

‘Yeah when he became Sherlock and then Dr Strange he literally takes up all my time so Yukio and I don’t get to see each other much.’ As he said it the blond snuggled into his side and he wrapped his arms around him kissing him on the head.

‘Well now,’ Toshiro glanced down at his watch, ‘its late afternoon so I say we start this celebration early so we can get to bed for a reasonable time and be up in time to meet Harry Potter.’

‘Hear, hear,’ Yukio chuckled as he took his ear piece out of his ear and switched it off.

‘Alright then I’ll go and get ready,’ Ichigo stretched out and walked towards the lift.

‘Remember and use your own room,’ Yukio hissed after him and Ichigo scowled around at the boy who was smirking at him. He had just been starting to like the blond as well…

 

* * *

 

‘There’s no way that’s you,’ Ichigo slurred as he leaned over the counter to glance curiously at the picture Kuro was showing him of a tiny Yukio.

‘Can you stop,’ Yukio whined pulling at his husbands arm as Toshiro laughed over his shoulder.

‘It’s so nice when it isn’t me,’ Ichigo chuckled leaning back in his chair and glancing up at Toshiro.

‘Don’t get so close,’ Kuro pulled Ichigo back his eyes glancing around at a couple of bystanders. The bar they were in was in an expensive part of town and a couple of UK based celebrities came and went. The manager tried to put them in an enclosed booth to keep them away from prying eyes but the more and more drunk the boys got the harder it was to keep their true feelings from coming out. Several times Ichigo had gotten close to Toshiro only to be pulled back away by Yukio or Kuro and once Toshiro leaned in towards Ichigo only to be yanked back by Yukio and pushed onto his husbands other side.

‘When was the last time you two had sex?’ Yukio scowled at them, ‘you both seem determined to get close to each other.’

‘We have a very _healthy_ relationship thank you,’ Ichigo frowned at him and the blond just smirked back.

‘Healthy isn’t exactly a word that would make me think you two have a great sex life,’ he whispered back and Ichigo felt like punching him across the table. That smug little look on his face was pissing him off.

‘Come now Yukio, I am sure their _private_ sex life is fine, they don’t need to tell you about it for you to justify it. That’s your journalist side speaking.’ Kuro commented, he struck a nerve and Yukio scowled but otherwise he stopped trying to pry.

Kuro wasn’t drinking much, he had a couple then decided to keep an eye on the group, especially Toshiro and Ichigo who seemed to be finding any excuse to touch each other.

‘There was once a time that was us,’ Kuro chuckled as he leaned back and placed his arm around Yukio as Toshiro once again went to sit down beside Ichigo.

‘You’re still like that,’ Yukio frowned at him and Kuro snorted.

‘Yeah sure, it’s just me,’ he rolled his eyes and Ichigo jumped as he felt a hand on his thigh under the table. Toshiro was staring politely over at the married couple as he sipped on his drink using his right hand. Ichigo stared down at him dumbly as the duo opposite chattered on completely unaware of Toshiros assault on his thigh. That hand travelled up his leg and back down before moving up again, dangerously close to his groin. It didn’t take long before Ichigo could feel himself becoming uncomfortable in the trousers and Toshiro knew it too. He was sitting grinning smugly to himself as Ichigo tried to focus on his drink. It was far too hot in the bar. At one point that hand ran all the way up his leg and brushed against his clothed member causing Ichigos mouth to fall open slightly and Yukio blinked at them.

‘Stop it, whatever you’re doing, stop it,’ he hissed at them across the table clearly trying to hide his own grin. ‘We need to get you two back to the hotel, get your hand off his crotch.’

Toshiro chuckled and retracted his hand and Kuro laughed as he stood up.

‘I’ll go get us a taxi can you two not touch each other for a few minutes please?’ he walked towards the door and walked out and Yukio slid under the table and disappeared, pulling himself up between the two of them to sit in the middle.

‘There, now anything you two decide to do you can’t do because I’ll be doing it too.’

That was too many words from one intoxicated brain to another but Yukio was clearly trying to suggest that if Toshiro made another move on Ichigo that the blond was joining in. They all seemed to register these words at the same time and soon they were all laughing hysterically. Neither of them could speak when Kuro finally came back and he had to Shepard the giggling boys into the back of the taxi.

‘We look like a boy band gone wrong,’ Ichigo chuckled and they started giggling again.

‘I’d have to be the drummer,’ Yukio laughed, ‘Ichigo would be the lead guitarist, Kuro you’d be the base because our beats match.’ He winked poorly at them and Toshiro frowned.

‘What would I be?’ he asked and Ichigo turned to him.

‘You’d be the singer babe-‘

‘LALALALALA!’ Yukio called out glaring at Ichigo and bringing a finger up to his mouth to make a ‘shush’ motion. He pointed his thumb at the taxi driver who glanced curiously into the mirror to see what was happening and that killed the fun instantly. No one really spoke until they got to the hotel and Ichigo frowned. This was too hard for him, he was struggling to keep this up and wondered when they’d be coming out to the world so that he could stop playing the assistant and start playing the boyfriend role.

Once they made it to the hotel Yukio wormed his way in between them as they made their way to the elevator which the four of them took alone.

‘Okay now, Ichigo, use your own damn room key and go into your room.’ Yukio hissed to him, ‘there’s a door on the far wall of your bedroom if you unlock it and open it you’ll see it leads to Toshiros room but he also has a door he must unlock from his side. That way you two can spend the night together but no one will know. A lot of hotels do this for celebrities to help them out.’ Ichigo could have kissed him, if it weren’t for the fact he really wanted to kiss Toshiro instead. ‘And tomorrow we all get to meet Harry Potter.’

‘Everyone except me,’ Kuro scowled from the corner of the elevator.

‘That’s alright, I’ll show you some magic tonight.’ Yukio yanked him by the hand towards his own room which was on the other side of Toshiros and led his husband inside who was trying to wave his farewell and goodnight to Toshiro and Ichigo. They heard the unmistakable sound of a body being pushed up against the door and Ichigo chuckled leaning down towards Toshiro.

‘I want some of what they’re having tonight,’ he mumbled into the prodigy’s ear. Toshiro shuddered and glanced around before shaking his head.

‘Go to your room Kurosaki, stop making stupid jokes.’ He straightened up but Ichigo saw that twinkle in his eye as he went into his own room.

Sure enough the doors were there and once both were unlocked, Ichigo could move freely between his own room and Toshiros.

The two males eventually migrated through to Ichigos room to sleep because the married couple apparently had no volume control on their love making. While Ichigo wanted to take Toshiro and have rough passionate sex, he couldn’t risk being heard so they slowed down and took the time to discover each others bodies before falling asleep in each others arms. The next day would be a big day indeed and though Toshiro never said anything, Ichigo could sense the boys’ apprehension.

He was meeting Harry Potter after all.


	20. Graham Norton Show

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter I adored writing!

Toshiro kept saying he was fine, he even snapped it at one point but Ichigo could tell he wasn’t. He’d wandered around the room aimlessly a couple of times now and was now pacing back and forward in front of the large mirror. Yukio had not been down at breakfast that morning and they guessed that he was enjoying his time with his husband alone in his room. Ichigo was trying to take his boyfriends mind off the interview, he knew how nervous he was about it. Yes Toshiro was excited, the boy loved Harry Potter almost as much as Ichigo himself did but he was worried and Ichigo wanted him to open up. Toshiro wasn’t good at talking about emotions and it was proving to be very difficult though.

‘Kuro is a nice guy,’ he decided to start the distracting process before he could worm the topic onto something he actually wanted to discuss.

‘Yes he does, he and Yukio seem to like each other a lot.’ Toshiro replied, straightening his grey tie against his white shirt for the tenth time now.

‘Have you ever thought about getting married?’ Ichigo asked innocently, and watched as Toshiro turned to give him a scrutinizing look.

‘I’ve never thought about it no… why are you asking?’

‘Relax gorgeous, I am not going to ask you to marry me,’ Ichigo rolled his eyes with a smile on his face, ‘I just wanted to know your take on it.’

‘Well, I’ve never thought it about but I don’t think I’d be completely opposed to the idea,’ he muttered letting his tie go as he gazed aimlessly at the corner of the table. He folded his arms across his chest as he contemplated and Ichigo smiled, he was distracting him.

‘I’ve thought about it,’ Ichigo said and watched the two teal eyes flickered back to his own.

‘You have?’ Toshiro had an amused smile on his face as Ichigo shrugged nonchalantly.

‘Yeah I have, I’ve always wanted to be married like my father was and maybe even to have a family one day. Maybe a dog too.’

‘A dog?’ Toshiro was grinning now as he shook his head and glanced up towards the TV.

‘Yeah, just seeing Yukio and Kuro yesterday made me realise how much I wanted it, I like how they are with each other and I’d love to have that with someone some day.’

‘Yes, I thought about it when I saw them too.’ Toshiro moved around the couch to sit beside Ichigo and the strawberry wasted no time in pulling the male towards him. They only had a couple of hours until the interview but they’d have to be there early to get hair and makeup done, so Ichigo only needed to distract him for less than an hour. He grinned mischievously to himself, he could think of something that could distract the boy for exactly that amount of time.

‘What’s that grin for?’ Toshiro scowled at him as Ichigo leaned across the couch towards him.

‘What _this_ grin?’ he smirked and Toshiro made a rather sexy noise at the back of his throat as he lay back on the couch.

‘What is your intention here Ichigo, I’m not in the mood to be teased,’ he muttered.

‘Good because I don’t plan on teasing you,’ Ichigo crawled over him and instantly locked lips with the smaller male who gasped into the kiss. Even though they’d had sex the night before he was trying to make up for all the times before it that they’d missed the opportunity. Besides he wasn’t planning on having sex with him, just giving him a mind blowing blow job. His hands were tugging at Toshiros belt as his lips broke away from the smaller males to kiss down towards his neck. Toshiro hummed and tilted his head back to expose his neck to the older male as Ichigo ravished it with his lips and teeth.

‘Don’t leave a mark,’ Toshiro hissed at him.

‘Relax handsome, I know exactly how much pressure to apply before I bruise you,’ he chuckled against his skin as he pulled away. His hands had removed the boys belt and he was tugging at his trousers to remove them.

‘Someone’s eager,’ Toshiro chuckled and Ichigo just ignored him as his erection sprung free. Ichigo took a few moments to stroke it gently with his index finger, he loved every inch of this beautiful appendage just as much as he loved the person it was attached too. Of course he’d not admit his declaration of love until he was sure Toshiro was ready to hear it, so instead he’d just take this opportunity to show the boys cock how much he cared.

‘I-Ichigo,’ Toshiro groaned as his member gave a twitch at his lazy finger tracing. ‘I hope you plan on doing more than that.’

‘So impatient,’ Ichigo hummed as he brought his lips down around the head and gave a harsh suck that had Toshiro moaning out into the room. His head flopped back onto the couch and his white spikes splayed beautifully against the leather surface.

‘ _F-fuck_ ,’ he hissed, ‘ _so good_.’

Ichigo pulled away for a moment loving the sight as the trousers restricted his legs that the boy clearly wanted to spread for him. He ran his tongue across his own lips, wetting them before he came back down around the boys member, lapping at the head with his tongue and driving it into the slit before bobbing down and swallowing as much of it into his mouth as he could take. Toshiros back arched off the couch and he groaned into the room, the sound mixing with the background noise of the television. The sound made Ichigo smirk around the beautiful muscle as pulled back, scraping his teeth along it with just the right amount of force.

‘ _Fuck, I-Ichigo_ ,’ he gasped, his legs trying to spread but his trousers would not allow it as Ichigo slipped a hand down under him to gently massage his balls as he swallowed around the head and dove back down again. It was clear that the boy was getting close from the way he had begun to pant, he only ever made those sounds when he was nearing orgasm. This was just another one of those things that Ichigo knew about the boy that no one else would ever have the pleasure of knowing. They’d never know what his needy whimpers would sound like, they’d never know that his cheeks flushed an adorable colour when he was in the throws of any sexual act, they’d never know any of it because it was all for Ichigos eyes and ears only. He gave a final harsh suck and swallow as Toshiros mouth fell open and he came hard into the swallowing mouth of his boyfriend.

‘ _I-Ichigo_!’ he rasped into the room as came spurt after spurt into the strawberrys mouth.

Once Ichigo had sucked him dry he pulled back and wiped his mouth as he gazed up at his little lover whose cheeks were that adorable tinge of pink, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he came down from his high.

‘T-that was…’ he brought a hand up to his forehead to wipe back the sweat that had dewed there.

‘Good?’ Ichigo laughed sarcastically as he gazed at the clock, perfect timing. Now they’d need to go and put on their appropriate attire to make their way to the Graham Norton show.

‘Yes, so good,’ he moaned clearly not wanting to move. Ichigo smirked and gave a harsh spank to the side of his exposed thigh.

‘C’mon handsome, you need to go and show the world just how awesome you are.’ When he said it he watched those teal eyes flicker over to the clock and go wide. His chest begun to heave again and Ichigo leaned in towards him.

‘Hey, _relax_.’ He cooed at him running his nose along his jaw line in a bid to try and sooth him. ‘You’re going to do amazing, you’ll have fun I promise. Just this week handsome and then we can go home and it will be just me and you.’

‘Not for long,’ Toshiro grumbled as he sat up and tugged his trousers loosely back up his waist.

‘What do you mean?’ Ichigo frowned at the unusual statement.

‘Well, you’ll be leaving to go back to College soon,’ Toshiro mumbled it and turned away from him and Ichigo smiled. He was upset, he only ever turned away like that when something was bothering him.

‘I only have one year left,’ he smiled as he reached out to tug Toshiro back around to face him.

‘Yeah but,’ Toshiro frowned at him, ‘what if you meet someone else at College?’ he threw his hands up in the air and then folded him defensively across his chest as his teal eyes bore into Ichigo.

‘Meet… someone?’ Ichigo burst out laughing and Toshiro scowled and tried to twist away from him as he pulled the smaller male onto his lap to place kisses over his available skin. ‘You mean meet someone else who is… what? Number 7 on the list of hottest men in the world?’ he was still laughing as Toshiro gave up his pointless attempts to get away and sat cradled on Ichigos lap as his jaw was assaulted by kisses.

‘Shut up, you know what I mean.’

‘No I don’t you’re perfect, I won’t be meeting anyone else.’

‘You’ll still be so far away,’ the boy groaned.

‘Well, I was going to speak to my Dad about it but I was thinking of transferring to a College here in New York City to finish my final year.’

‘Really?’ Toshiros voice had turned hopeful and he whipped back around to face Ichigo who had to purse his lips to hide his amusement. His boyfriend could be really cute when he wasn’t being the big boss man CEO of the company.

‘Yeah, I mean holidays I get from College would be spent visiting my family though because I’ve barely seen them enough during this year.’ He frowned at that thought, he missed them and he knew that his dad was likely spending nights alone because the twins were grown up too.

‘Of course,’ Toshiro was smiling and his hands slipped around Ichigos neck to tangle into his orange hair. ‘That’d be fine with me, I’ll buy you a jet you can fly back whenever you want.’

‘Can’t I just borrow yours?’

‘I might be using it, I’ll get you your own,’ his eyes lit up.

‘It’s not a done deal, I’ll need to sort out the transition fees and-‘

‘Consider that done,’ Toshiro rolled his eyes, ‘I mean really.’

‘I don’t want you to pay for everything,’ Ichigo scowled at him, ‘I’m not with you for your money.’

‘I know that but I want you to be here as much as you do so I’ll hear no more of it.’ Toshiros voice had turned back into that authoritative tone again and he narrowed his eyes at Ichigo who smiled at him.

‘Yes sir,’ Ichigo chuckled and leaned in to steal a kiss off the man. ‘Now let’s get you to the Graham Norton show.’

 

* * *

 

They weren’t allowed to meet Daniel Radcliff right away as they waited around in Toshiros changing room to be called to the stage. Hair and makeup and been in and did their job though virtually no makeup was needed because Toshiro was already stunning just the way he was. They simply applied a little powered to reduce the glare from the lights to the camera on his face and that was it. He was leaning against a wall with his eyes closed, his hand clutching desperately at the glass of whiskey in his hand. He was wearing a regular black and white suit though the colours made his eyes even more startling when he opened them. Yukio cleaned up good too, when they’d gone to get the boy he’d been rather quiet once he left Kuro behind and his jokes seemed to be lost as he stared out the window of the car.

He was sitting beside Ichigo on the couch, in a nice white shirt with a dark green tie that matched his eyes.

‘Don’t be afraid to fan girl,’ Yukio commented as he glanced from the device in his hands back up to Toshiro. ‘The world would love it if they found out you were a Harry Potter fan.’

‘If I keep drinking this I probably will,’ Toshiro quickly downed the glass and poured himself another, Ichigo didn’t want to stop him he knew this was his way of coping with his nerves.

‘Daniel is a lovely guy from what I’ve heard, he gets pretty nervous as well you’ll both be fine,’ Yukio smirked and stood up before walking to the room door. ‘I’ll be back soon, no funny stuff.’ He smirked at them and exited the room and Ichigo rolled his eyes as he stood up to cross over to his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him close. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and it made him sigh into the embrace as Toshiro clutched him closer.

‘Yukio and I will be just off stage remember, it won’t last long it’s going to be like twenty minutes and it will fly by.’

‘I know,’ Toshiro nuzzled into his neck and the two quickly leapt apart as the door opened and Yukio slipped back in smirking at them.

‘What did I say?’

‘I was just giving him a hug Yukio relax,’ Ichigo scowled at the other male and the blond nodded his head.

‘They’re ready for us,’ he opened the door and Toshiro straightened up, downing the glass in his hand and putting it on the table before walking out.

They went out into the hall and the three well dressed men were led down the corridor, Toshiro in front and Yukio and Ichigo flanking him as one of the shows producers took them to a section just off the side of the stage. There was a monitor and the teams of Daniel Radcliff and Emily Blunt were there too and Ichigo tried his best not to fan girl as he got a glimpse of Dan through the array of people. Then the Harry Potter actor was being sent on stage followed by Emily Blunt and Ichigo and Yukio watched one of the back stage screens as Toshiro was announced and he walked out with a charming grin as he made his way onto the stage.

Graham Norton shook his hand and he sat on the couch beside Emily Blunt who was in the middle of the two boys. Ichigo could feel his whole being convulsing with nerves for the man and he was happy to see that a drink was in front of each celebrity on the table ready for them as Graham welcomed the entire audience to the show.

The three guests were shaking hands with each other as Graham sat down and he smirked at them.

‘Mr Hitsugaya you’re a lot shorter than I expected you to be in real life,’ Graham commented and Ichigo slapped a hand to his forehead.

‘Don’t comment on his height,’ Ichigo scowled up at the screen but Toshiro seemed to take it in good sport and simply smiled charmingly back.

‘Yeah I didn’t think I’d meet another male shorter than me,’ Daniel said with a grin.

‘Well you’re both being towered over by the lovely Emily tonight.’ Graham commented and Toshiro turned to offer her a charming grin.

‘Yes but she’s wearing heels, it doesn’t count,’ Toshiro said and Emily laughed at him.

‘I could take them off, but I still think I’d be taller,’ she smiled back at him and he scowled at the high heels on her feet.

‘Not if I put them on,’ he said back and they all laughed.

‘Partial to that Mr Hitsugaya? A little cross dressing?’ Graham asked and Toshiro leaned back on the couch with a smile on his lips.

‘Only on the weekend Graham, only on the weekend.’

‘He’s insanely charming, isn’t he charming?’ Graham asked the audience and they all agreed with him and Toshiro flushed a little on the couch as he pretended to act modest.

‘Yes he is,’ Ichigo hissed at the TV, ‘and he’s taken Graham hands off.’

‘Ichigo,’ Yukio chuckled as a warning, patting his back as the blond hastily looked around to make sure no one was around to hear his comment.

‘Have you all met before?’ Graham asked.

‘No,’ Toshiro turned to the other two on the couch, ‘though of course I do know about these two amazing actors.’

‘Aww that’s sweet well me and Dan were talking backstage,’ she flipped her hair over her shoulder and leaned back on the couch, ‘and we thought it would be amazing if you could let us come and be super heros for marvel soon.’

‘Oh?’ Toshiro laughed and turned to Daniel who was grinning at her. ‘I think you two would be killer super heros.’

‘What would be your super powers?’ Graham asked leaning over to join in the conversation.

‘Well I’d personally like the ability to dig holes,’ she answered and there was a beats silence as they all digested this random information.

‘To… dig holes?’ Graham frowned at her and she nodded her head enthusiastically.

‘That’s so random,’ Daniel burst out laughing and Toshiro joined in.

‘I’m sure there’s a place for a hole digging superhero,’ Toshiro smirked at her. ‘As for Harry Potter,’ he grinned across at Daniel.

‘I’ve not been Harry Potter in years,’ Daniel laughed at him.

‘I know I was just looking for a bridge to bring it up to say I’m a really big fan, not that big considering the size of me, but as big as I can be.’

Ichigo and Yukio chuckled back stage as Toshiro took the stab at his own height, at least if he did it then no one else could really make fun of him for it.

‘Oh the giant CEO is a Harry Potter fan?’ Graham asked, as Daniel chuckled modestly to the group. ‘Just how big a fan are you?’

‘I waited for four hours, in a queue to get the last Harry Potter book,’ Toshiro said smoothly, ‘and when the last movie came out I rented an entire cinema screen so that me and some members of my company could watch all the movies back to back leading up to midnight in time to watch the final one.’ His voice had turned serious and there was no smile on his face as he leaned over towards Graham, ‘I am a very serious fan.’

‘I think we should have a Harry Potter off,’ Emily said looking between the two boys.

‘No way, if he showed me up my reputation would be ruined,’ Daniel laughed as leaned back. ‘I’d not be able to look my girlfriend in the eye again.’

‘Is she a fan too Daniel?’ Graham asked and the boy nodded.

‘Yes she knows way more than me and she won’t let me forget it.’

‘I’d definitely win in a Harry Potter quiz,’ Toshiro turned to him and Ichigo and Yukio – who were grinning madly backstage at this point – noticed the tinge of pink from the alcohol on his cheeks. ‘I thought you were absolutely incredible in those films, I mean entering something at that young an age couldn’t have been easy and yet here you are still with your grace in tact.’ Toshiro shook his head, clearly impressed and clearly a little drunk.

‘If you two want to get a room, I can move?’ Emily glanced good naturedly around as if trying to figure out somewhere else for her to sit.

‘I think Dan would consider himself lucky Toshiro is the 8th sexiest man in the world right now.’ Graham reminded them all and the colour that was dusting Toshiros cheeks darkened.

‘You know he’s such an attractive man, me and my girlfriend were writing out our list of our five celebrities that we’re allowed a free pass for.’ Daniel commented with a smile as he leaned back against the couch, ‘and Mr Hitsugaya came up on both our lists.’

‘ _Both?’_ Graham laughed and Ichigo scowled and turned to Yukio.

‘How the hell am I meant to compete with Harry Potter?’ he whispered in playful panic to the blond who rolled his eyes and punched his shoulder.

‘Relax, Toshiro doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy to run off.’ Yukio laughed and Ichigo grinned back.

‘Well let me tell you Daniel for you I would make an exception.’ Toshiro chuckled and winked at the boy from across the lap of Emily.

‘This is great, can I join in?’ she asked looking at the two of them.

‘This suddenly turned very dirty, so Mr Hitsugaya you said he’s an exception, does that mean you’re not gay?’

‘I am married to my work Graham,’ Toshiro answered smoothly and Ichigo watched as Yukio broke into a wicked grin. By that response no one would be able to guess his sexuality from the way he answered the question.

‘Being known as the top attractive man though you must get some crazy fans?’ Graham asked and Toshiro sat back and shook his head.

‘Not really no, I mostly stay inside my office and all my staff know me, they usually leave me alone. Besides no one can get by my assistants Rangiku and Ichigo, they protect me from the crazy fans, it’s why I keep them close.’

Clever, Ichigo thought.

‘But Dan you’ve had a few intense fan moments haven’t you?’ Graham asked him and Toshiro and Emily turned in time to see the Harry Potter Star wince at the comment.

‘Yeah I have,’ he seemed almost reluctant to share this story but had the full audiences’ attention as he tried to start. ‘So like…’ he paused for a moment and the crowed giggled. ‘So I came out of the premiere of Women in Black and I was just getting into the car, the car was there and we were driving and everything was fine.’ He waved his hands as he spoke and Ichigo couldn’t help but grin at the obvious smile on Toshiros face on the screen as he watched him. ‘Then this car starts driving crazy close to ours and there’s this guy in the back seat and he’s making significant hand gestures to me trying to get me to roll down my window, so I do-‘

‘Never roll down your window Dan,’ Emily said with a very serious expression, ‘that’s how they get you.’ The audience laughed at the comment and Daniel gave a very significant nod of his head.

‘Yeah it is, so like this guy, starts trying to climb _out_ of his window and _into_ mine as these two cars are travelling down this busy road and I’m sitting there thinking “fuck this guys is going to die!”’

‘That must have been terrifying for you,’ Graham said sounding abashed, ‘did you not roll up the window?’

‘Did I not- no of course not, the guys body was already halfway inside my window and we couldn’t even stop because if we did and they kept going his body would be ripped in two and it was just insane. When I started screaming that he was going to die he got the point and managed to make it back into his own car before we turned away. It was mental, that has got to be the most insane fan I’ve ever met.’

‘Sorry about that Dan,’ Toshiro said, and the entire audience roared with laughter as he shrugged his shoulders. ‘I couldn’t help myself.’ Daniel joined in the laughter and a few members of the audience clapped.

‘I thought I recognised you,’ Dan laughed leaning over to him. ‘Though I was sure you had brown hair.’

‘This is dyed.’

‘Is it really?’ Graham asked his face looking eager for more information.

‘No.’

‘See and this all started because you had to roll down the bloody window,’ Emily said again and they chuckled.

‘Emily how is your little girl? Because you were heavily pregnant weren’t you when you were filming Edge of Tomorrow?’

‘Yes I was very pregnant,’ she smiled, ‘little Hazel is doing fine.’

‘I think we have a picture of her,’ Graham turned around a picture of Hazel came up on the screen to a collective ‘aww’ from the audience. ‘Isn’t she just gorgeous?’

‘She’s so cute,’ Daniel added and Toshiro simply smiled beside Emily.

‘It will be over soon,’ Yukio said as he looked at his watch, ‘I’ll go and bring the car around and get him his whiskey.’ The blond slipped away and Ichigo watched the remainder of the interview where they interviewed a Harry Potter fan on a chair and spoke about the upcoming movies they were all involved in.

‘Have you never thought about acting Mr Hitsugaya?’ Graham asked him and Toshiro scoffed and shook his head.

‘I don’t like trying to memorize words, I like to think on my feet and respond appropriately, unless it’s Harry Potter of course, I could recite all those movies by heart.’

‘Could you really?’ Emily and Daniel asked together and with a smirk Toshiro waved his hand.

‘Challenge me.’

‘Okay,’ Daniel smirked at him, ‘first movie the scene after they defeat the troll.’

Toshiro stood up from the couch and the whole crowed was whooping and making cat calls as he shrugged off his suit jacket. Ichigos mouth fell open as he watched his boyfriend in a shirt that was rather see through walk around to an open section of floor in front of a live audience and proceed to play every character in the scene.

‘Is it? Dead?’ he offered a startlingly brilliant impression of a young Hermione.

‘Don’t think so,’ he changed to a rather young boyish version of Daniel who howled with laughter from the couch as he even got his awkward blink almost spot on. ‘Just knocked out.’ He went about pulling an invisible wand out an invisible nose and scowled at it, ‘ughhh, troll boggies,’ he walked over to Daniel and wiped the imaginary wand on his suit jacket before darting back around the couch and looking startled, ‘oh my goodness, explain yourselves.’ He sounded almost exactly like Professor McGonagall and Ichigo was laughing along with the audience as he acted all flustered and turned back into a young Hermione, jumping back to where he stood before. ‘It was my fault professor McGonagall, I went looking for the troll, I read about them and thought I could handle it.’ He was sulking and looking at his feet as he said it, ‘but I was wrong, if Harry and Ron hadn’t come to save me, I’d probably be dead.’

There was a definitive cheer from the audience as Toshiro took a small bow and hastily made his way back to his seat, he was very clearly rather drunk Ichigo noticed as he tried not to laugh.

‘Well I feel like this has been productive, I think we all found out that Mr Hitsugaya is a bigger Harry Potter fan than most,’ Graham chuckled as the interview drew to a close.

‘Insanely huge Harry Potter fan,’ he slurred a little and turned in his seat to smile at Daniel.

‘We found out that Mr Hitsugaya is on Daniels list of five celebrities he’s allowed to sleep with, there will surely be fan fiction about this now on your website Dan.’

‘Oh I can imagine there will be, probably that I go to try and get a meeting with Mr Hitsugaya about appearing as a Superhero and he bangs me on the desk or something.’ Daniel shook his head as he laughed and Toshiro sent him another wink across the sofa.

‘Meanwhile I’ll just be outside the office, digging my hole.’ Emily added and Graham called for the show to come to an end and wished the audience a goodnight.

Ichigo grinned at the cameras when the producers were all walking around and he waited patiently for Toshiro to come back out.  

The three celebrities seemed to not want to part ways as they all sat on the couch and chuckled and giggled, Graham came off stage and slipped off he looked like he was in a hurry for something. Ichigo peered out onto the stage and Toshiro caught sight of him waving him over. The producers were removing the microphones from the guests and taking them away when Ichigo reached them.

‘This is my assistant Ichigo,’ Toshiro commented and as Ichigo drew closer he could see just how drunk the boy actually was.

‘It’s lovely to meet you both,’ he smiled and tried to hide the flush from his face as he shook Daniel Radcliffs hand.

‘Not sure about Mr Hitsugaya but you’re definitely gay,’ Emily smirked at him, ‘I have a very good gaydar.’

‘I-‘ Ichigo flushed the moment she said it and straightened up, trying not to make eye contact with Toshiro to lead them to believe anything about them.

‘It’s okay we’ll be out soon,’ Toshiro said openly in front of the two on the couch.

‘OH! So you two are together?’ Emily lowered her voice and her and Dan leaned in with a grin.

‘Yes we are,’ Toshiro nodded, ‘we’ll be stating it soon can you two keep it hush for just now?’

Ichigo couldn’t believe it, couldn’t believe that Toshiro had just told two people but by the looks on their faces he knew they could trust them.

‘Of course,’ Daniel nodded with a smile, ‘I hate it when the world goes out of it’s way to try and ruin privacy,’ he scowled and it was the first time Ichigo had seen him look annoyed.

‘Don’t worry we won’t tell a soul,’ she smiled, ‘so how long?’ she lowered her voice again so they all had to lean back in.

‘About six months now I think,’ Toshiro confirmed and they both grinned at him.

‘Kudos to you guys for keeping it hidden for so long,’ Daniel sighed, ‘as soon as I went out with my girlfriend they were all over me.’

‘You two are much bigger stars than I am though, at the time I wasn’t pursued as heavily as I am now.’ Toshiro sighed and they watched as Yukio walked out onto the stage to tell them that the car was there.

‘Alright have a nice night,’ Emily said leaning in to hug them all this time as she left the stage.

‘You too,’ they called after her and Daniel smiled and waved her off.

‘If you two need anything,’ Daniel handed Ichigo a piece of paper with a mobile number on it. ‘Get in touch with me, I’ll do anything I can to help with anything,’ he smiled and Ichigo pocketed the piece of paper with a grin. ‘Or if you’re looking for another person to star in a movie,’ he smirked at Toshiro and the two hugged before he left too.

‘He was lovely,’ Toshiro commented with a smile as they made their way through the back towards the back exit.

‘So was she,’ Ichigo smiled, ‘they were both nice. Maybe fame won’t be so bad if all the celebrities look out for each other the way they all do.’

‘Not all of them do,’ Yukio smiled, ‘but Kuro and I are very good at knowing who those are, you should be safe with those two, they check out. Plus Daniel has a really nice ass.’

‘You’re a married man,’ Ichigo said shocked, ‘you shouldn’t be looking.’

‘Oh please Daniel has been on my list of free passes since before I met my husband,’ he smirked, ‘speaking of which I really think that the publicist should have his number.’ The blond held out his hand for the piece of paper and Ichigo scowled and moved away from him.

‘Over my dead body.’

‘That could be arranged.’

‘Boys,’ Toshiro scowled at them, ‘it’s very clear that _I_ should be the one with his number since I am in charge and I clearly cannot trust either of you two with it.’ He held out his hand and Ichigo scowled as he handed the piece of paper over.

‘My god,’ Yukio drawled once they were outside and away from everyone else. ‘He really does have you whipped.’

 

Once they deposited Yukio into his room alone, they made their way back to their own rooms, using the magic secret door to meet in Toshiros hotel suite. Ichigo felt a little sorry for the blond, he wasn’t his biggest fan but it was very clear the boy was madly in love with his husband and it seemed that they didn’t get to see each other all that much. Thinking of the blonds’ relationship reminded him of his and a question he eagerly wanted to ask his boyfriend.

‘Hey Toshiro,’ Ichigo muttered as the boy lay slumped against the couch dozing in front of the TV.

‘Mmm?’

‘I wanted to ask you something,’ Ichigo lifted the long vodka to his mouth and took a sip, he walked around the couch and sat down beside his boyfriend who had opened a lazy eye to look at him. ‘You said we’d be coming out soon to the public to Daniel and Emily and I was just wondering… when?’

‘Soon,’ he mumbled closing his eyes again and Ichigo sighed.

‘I’d kind of like to know,’ Ichigo frowned at him and watched a small smile tug at his lips.

‘Don’t worry, I’ll let you know when I’m ready.’

‘Alright,’ Ichigo sighed a little exasperated as he watched the boys jaw go slack and his breathing even out. Even in sleep, he was completely flawless.


	21. Red Carpets and Revelations

If Toshiro was nervous for the Vogue shoot, the Jimmy Fallon show, and the Graham Norton show it was nothing… _nothing_ in comparison to how he was the morning of the big premiere.

Ichigo woke up in his boyfriends’ bed and stretched luxuriously in the vastly warm covers, his fingers scouring the bed for another warm body which wasn’t there. He sat up and ran a hand through his orange spikes as he looked around the room. His diminutive boyfriend was no where to be seen and as he glanced over at the clock he saw that it was just after 6am, far too early to be awake. With a frown Ichigo removed the covers and padded through to the living room area of his boyfriends’ suit and saw that the TV was on and Toshiro was folded up on the couch wearing Ichios dark grey hoodie with the hood up. There was some terrible early morning show on about the woes of the lives of two British people who seemed to be related but had been married for three years.

He made his way over to the couch and slipped onto it, pulling his boyfriend against his warm chest and breathing in the scent he’d managed to infuse into the hoodie.

‘Hey handsome, you okay?’

‘Yes.’

‘No you’re not, but I get it. You don’t want to talk about it.’ Ichigo retorted and Toshiro didn’t reply. They sat watching the show for a little while and eventually Ichigo grew bored so he reached up and took his little lovers hood down to comb his fingers through the white locks. Toshiro made a small noise of content at the back of his throat and sighed as he leaned into Ichigo. Those giant teal eyes closing over slowly and Ichigo was sure he could feel Toshiro trembling, but it wasn’t from his mainstreams it was from something else. Ichigo frowned, he wanted Toshiro to open up to him but he wasn’t good at talking about emotion and Ichigo knew that, all he could do right now was comfort him. Soon Toshiro was making sleepy noises of content in the back of his throat and Ichigos hands continued threading through the soft white locks until the boy fell asleep in his arms.

Ichigo didn’t want to move so he sat watching the terrible TV show in his boxers with his little lover cradled in his arms until Yukio came in. They’d decided to give him the spare key since Ichigo had the magic door to get into the place. Ichigo wasn’t self conscious about his body and certainly with his sexy little CEO nestled against his chest and between his legs most of it was hidden from view anyway as Yukio walked in. Ichigo instantly brought a finger to his lips and Yukio quietly made his way over sitting on a couch opposite.

‘He okay?’ Yukio frowned looking at his face which Ichigo couldn’t see from his position. He could imagine it so clearly in his head though after watching his tiny boyfriend sleep several times.

‘Yeah,’ Ichigo whispered back. ‘He was up really early so I thought I’d just let him keep resting.’ Ichigo muttered, every time the tiny boy stirred in his arms he’d go back to running his fingers through his hair again.

‘Can I get you something?’ Yukio asked, clearly noticing that Ichigo was in no position to be able to move.

‘A coffee would be great,’ Ichigo said quietly as Yukio made his way back towards the door.

‘So that would be a tea then?’ the blond smirked at him as he disappeared through it.

Despite what Yukio had said, he did in fact bring Ichigo back a coffee. He also brought back one for Toshiro too which was perfect timing as it was early afternoon and Ichigo had fallen asleep on the couch with Toshiro wrapped in his arms and they were both stirring awake and groggy when the blond came back in.

‘Ah good you two are up,’ he was smiling as he put the coffee cups down on the counter and a bag of food which Ichigo was eyeing from his position on the couch.

‘Time’sit?’ Toshiro asked sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

‘It’s about… one in the afternoon,’ Yukio said as he placed his long jacket over the back of one of the dining room chairs and sat the bag down on the table. ‘I’ve bought a selection of sandwiches if you guys wanna have some?’ Yukio waved a hand at the bag and Ichigo sat up eagerly eyeing it only to be stopped with his small boyfriends hand on his chest.

‘Where do you think you’re going?’ Toshiro asked scowling at him. Ichigo pouted and pointed at the bag.

‘To get some food.’

‘Not like that you’re not,’ he waved to his body. ‘Yukio avert your eyes please.’

‘I’ve seen men before Toshiro he’s not even nake-‘

‘Now.’

Yukio rolled his eyes with a smile on his face and shuffled around in his seat.

‘Go get changed,’ Toshiro frowned at him and Ichigo sighed standing up. ‘Yukio is married he isn’t going to care.’

‘ _I_ care, I don’t want anyone else seeing you like that.’

‘Why?’

‘How would you feel if I was sitting here in my boxers in front of Yukio?’ he asked and Ichigo thought about it and frowned. Yeah okay so maybe he could see his point. With a nod of his head he vanished back into the bedroom to put on a top and pair of jeans. When he came back out the two boys were eating a sandwich at the table and talking about scheduling stuff for that day. Ichigo was only half paying attention as he shuffled through the bag and pulled out a sandwich he liked the look of and sat down to eat. Yukio brought a finger to his mouth and sucked it as he finished his sandwich, his eyes flickering across the device in his hands.

‘So realistically, you’ll want to get showered as soon as possible, because these red carpet events can last for hours. Are you going to the party at the end of the night?’ he asked looking directly at Toshiro.

‘Well, I… we’ll see.’ Toshiro sighed taking another small bite of his sandwich. Ichigo frowned something was definitely bothering him. Yukio seemed to notice too and his eyes shifted to Ichigos with a questioning gaze but Ichigo frowned and allowed a tiny shrug of his shoulders before the blonds eyes flew back.

‘Are we invited to the party?’ Ichigo asked and Yukio shook his head.

‘No they’re really strict about it, it’s literally the celebrities and partners only.’ Yukio frowned sympathetically at Ichigo who sighed. If they were out in public he’d be allowed to go to the party. ‘It will be happening in the same venue as the screening just a few floors up.’ Yukio said as his phone went off and he raised his hand popping his ear piece in. ‘Yukio- speak.’ He stood up and left the table to give the boys a moment and Ichigo turned to Toshiro with a frown.

‘Okay there’s something more than the premiere on your mind tonight babe what’s up?’

‘Just not sure how the media will take it…’ he mumbled not making a lick of sense.

‘Take what?’

‘Doesn’t matter, I’m going to go for a shower.’ He went to stand up but Ichigo grabbed him and nodded to his sandwich.

‘You can go and have a shower once you’re finished eating that.’

‘You’re not the boss of me,’ he frowned but it was a playful frown and Ichigo gave him a no nonsense look. He sighed and lifted the other half of his sandwich to his mouth and forced it down in front of him a series of large bites. ‘Happy?’

‘Absolutely exultant,’ he responded earning a genuine smile from the prodigy as he made his way towards their bedroom where the en suit was.

‘Okay that was one of the event organisers, they want non actors to be there a bit earlier than expected so when Toshiro comes out from the shower we’ll have to get dressed and motor. Are you going for a shower too?’ he asked and Ichigo nodded. ‘Alright, you should go now.’ He got another call and ran off and Ichigo stood up heading for the other bathroom. He’d have joined Toshiro but he had the faint idea the boy needed time alone with his thoughts which was fine. Ichigo didn’t want to force himself onto him especially when he was already stressed enough as it was.

Once out of the shower Ichigo got changed in the other room giving Toshiro more space but he was struggling with the tie. He couldn’t make it look as good as the way Tyler had done it in store. Eventually he gave up and came out of the room hoping that Toshiro could help him with it.

‘Struggling with the tie?’ Yukio asked as he glanced over at him and Ichigo nodded.

‘Was it a Balthus?’ he asked and Ichigo chuckled.

‘You can do that knot?’ he asked.

‘You have _no_ idea the things I can do,’ the blond sauntered over to him and in a matter of movements had the tie perfect around his neck. Ichigo wasn’t sure if he’d just been flirted with or if it was another aspect of Yukios weird sense of humour.

‘When will you be seeing Kuro again?’ Ichigo asked as he leaned over the table and eyed the blond more fully. He was in a 1920’s like suit with very subtle pin stripes. The look suited him well given the fashion he normally wore.

‘Probably another month,’ Yukio shrugged like it was no big deal but it was easy to see that it was a big deal.

‘I’m sorry, why so long?’

‘He’s gone over to the US with Benedict to help him with the upcoming Marvel movies but he’s going to try and visit soon.’ Ichigo couldn’t imagine being away from Toshiro for that length of time and yet if he went back to College in California that’s exactly what would happen to him. He made a mental note to himself to start the transfer over to New York as soon as he got back. ‘You and Toshiro are really good together,’ Yukio smiled a genuine smile at him. ‘I could see you two being married one day.’

‘Maybe,’ Ichigo shrugged his shoulders but smiled. The idea was pleasant and he had been picturing it since he saw Yukio and Kuro together.

‘Maybe once Toshiro gets back home you two can start being proper boyfriends,’ Yukio said clearly trying to cheer him up.

‘It’s still Mr Hitsugaya to you,’ Toshiro said from behind them and they both turned to see him in his white Tux looking just as ravishing as he had done the day he’d tried it on. Ichigo stood up a little straighter and swallowed thickly. The suit highlighted his figure beautifully and made his eyes stand out. Yukio gave a low whistle of appreciation and Ichigo instantly scowled at him.

‘He’s taken,’ the strawberry snapped at him.

‘I know, I’m just being appreciative of my bosses obvious good looks, calm down Ichigo you look handsome too.’ The blond rolled his eyes with a smile on his face. Ichigo opened his mouth to reply when the blond was called once again.

‘Ahhh good, gentleman,’ he smirked a few seconds later, ‘we’re ready to leave.’ Ichigo walked towards Toshiro and put a gentle hand on the small of his back to give him an encouraging push towards the door.

 

Red carpets were insane. They were fucking insane. They were loud and noisy and even as the car rolled up Yukio was gibbering away and informing Ichigo of exactly what was happening and what was going to happen.

‘We’re to remain about a meter behind him at every point.’ Yukio pulled a bag up from beside the seat and pulled out a series of black and white marker pens handing them to Ichigo along with a pocket protector. Ichigo looked down at the weird contraption and the blond rolled his eyes and went about installing it for him.

‘When he gets asked to sign things, we need to carry the pens for him, if they run out or stop working we can give him another that’s our job. If he asks for a drink we get him one, whatever he needs we’ll be there. When he gets interviewed we stay out of the way of cameras and when he’s taking a walk down the carpet towards the venue he goes alone, once he reaches the end we can catch up.’ Ichigo was nodding along with everything he was saying and Yukio smiled at him. ‘I’ll keep you right don’t worry.’

Ichigo gave him a thankful smile before turning to Toshiro who had been quiet the entire trip. Ichigo was now getting impatient and he didn’t care about the whole idea of their relationship coming out. He ignored the fact the driver was not one of their own as he spotted Toshiros hand fisting the fabric of his trousers tightly and he reached forward and took it in his own, gently running his thumb along it. Toshiro sighed and accepted the gesture graciously. Yukio didn’t say anything about it either as the car pulled up. Ichigo desperately wanted to kiss him and distract him but before he could even consider it the car door was opening and the noise hit them like a tone of bricks.

The carpet was indeed red and it was actually a carpet which surprise Ichigo, he’d thought it would be a fake. Then people were screaming for Toshiro and he was only halfway out the car. He’d pulled his shoulders back and stood straight; a man of power once again, exactly like he’d looked the first time Ichigo saw him. The strawberry smiled as he waited for Yukio to get out first then followed directly behind them. Toshiro was called to the side immediately and as Ichigo and Yukio followed him Ichigo realised something. Some of the posters people wanted him to sign; were Harry Potter pictures.

He grinned to himself as he handed Toshiro the first of many pens and watched his boyfriend sign his beautiful name in his beautiful script across many marvel posters, Harry Potter posters, Harry Potter books and Marvel comics along with merchandise of the current movie.

‘Can you sign this shirt for my little brother Mr Hitsugaya? He’s in hospital with leukaemia!’ someone called out and Ichigos heart fell when he saw the size of the shirt the man was holding out. It looked like it was for a 12 or 13 year old. It had a massive iron man on the front of it and Yukio rushed forward to give Toshiro a new pen.

‘Fabric pen,’ he told Ichigo when he came back to his side. ‘Stays on clothing a lot longer than a regular

‘What’s your brothers’ name?’ Toshiro asked stepping towards the man.

‘Lukas sir,’ he said, ‘he’s a huge marvel fan and he loves you. We think he might have a crush,’ the guy was grinning like maniac. ‘First crush he’s ever had, he’s growing up.’ Toshiro gave the man a warm smile and took the T-shirt from him glancing around for somewhere to sign it on.

‘Oh here,’ the guy turned around and offered his back and a few of the surrounding fans were filming the moment as Toshiro chuckled and used the mans back to write a lovely message at the top corner on the back of the t shirt.

‘You’re braver than any superhero, and a lot braver than me. Love Toshiro Hitsugaya.’ He wrote on it and then he signed the bottom with his usual signature and a heart as the man turned back around he was over the moon and kept shouting thank yous after Toshiro even when they were well out of earshot. It wasn’t the only cancer story they heard that day and actually came across a group of ladies who had all shaved their heads because one of them had breast cancer. Toshiro was made to sign many things including one womans breast which normally Ichigo would have stopped but given the fact it was for breast cancer Toshiro looked completely comfortable taking up the role.

‘I’m going to need a new pen,’ he chuckled and Ichigo handed him one. ‘Don’t want to write on your breast with a pen that’s been everywhere else,’ he frowned, ‘that’d be disrespectful.’ He signed his name and then handed the woman the pen to keep. ‘And you all look beautiful,’ he said seriously as he started to walk back down the line again.

‘Your reputation as a stoic icy git is going to be in the gutter after this.’ Ichigo chuckled to him when he stepped forward to give him a new pen.

‘Shut your mouth Kurosaki.’

‘Maybe not.’

They continued down the line and at one point Toshiro had to swap hands and begin signing with his left as his right started to cramp. Thankfully the end was in sight though they’d been at it easily for around two hours.

‘Any chance of a whiskey?’ Toshiro asked and Ichigo smirked as he pulled a hip flask out from the inside of his jacket and handed it to him. ‘You’re a fucking genius,’ he hissed as he took two swigs from it.

‘That better be pumpkin juice,’ someone from the crowed called and a few people chuckled.

‘A Harry Potter joke,’ he chuckled as he winked at them, ‘very cute. Let’s just say it’s a version of drinkable murtlap to help my hand muscles to sign all this merchandise.’ They all chuckled and cheered as he continued to sign away and soon was handing the pens back as they came towards the section for interviews. The line was moving fairly quickly and because they weren’t actual actors of the movie the directors, producers etc who were all moving forward were only being asked one or two questions each. As for Toshiro, he got stopped a little longer. Likely due to his popularity.

‘Mr Hitsugaya, can you tell us who your favourite superhero is?’ the interviewer asked and Ichigo smiled as he stayed behind with Yukio.

‘It’s got to be Iron Man we both have a lot in common, we’re both genius billionaire playboy philanthropists.’

‘And who are you wearing tonight?’

‘Dolce and Gabbana.’

Most of the interviews went like this for the small networks. Ichigo watched his boyfriends’ body language shift a little as they came to some of the bigger networks. One was apparently HBO and it was one of the biggest because it had sold its broadcasting out to many other countries for that evening to show on other networks, at least that’s what Yukio was saying.

‘Okay this is a big one, stay back. This is probably the most important interview here.’ Yukio droned in his ear as he looked around at the other celebrities. Ichigo watched his small boyfriend twist a finger nervously around the belt hoop of his pants as he took his place up beside the camera.

‘Mr Hitsugaya,’ the pretty bold woman said stepping forward. ‘How lovely to have you here, how are you enjoying the event so far?’

‘It’s amazing, I always come to these events and feel so humbled by all the fans and all the enthusiasm from everyone involved.’ He smiled kindly at her.

‘And who are you wearing tonight? You look ravishing as always.’

‘Oh thank you, I am wearing Dolce and Gabbana tonight, they’re excellent as always and always make me look good. Without them I’d probably just come in sweats.’ The woman laughed and Ichigo grinned; his boyfriend was killing it.

‘I think the entire world fell in love with you a little more when you gave that Harry Potter demonstration in the Graham Norton interview, was that planned at all?’

‘Nope, not even in the slightest. It was so much fun though.’

‘You really are very charming in real life! How are you still single?’

‘Well, actually I’m not.’ Ichigo froze and beside him Yukio did the same thing.

‘You’re not?’ she seemed dumbfounded as well, ‘who?’ she clearly hadn’t anticipated his answer and didn’t really know how to ask an appropriate question back.

‘I’m here tonight with my boyfriend Ichigo Kurosaki whom I love very much.’

It was like the world stopped turning for a split second and Ichigo felt his heart pounding in his head at the revelation. He’d just said live on camera in front of the world that he was his boyfriend… and more than that that he loved him? Ichigo moved before he could even stop himself. He didn’t care that literally every camera was now turning their way, every flash was being directed at them as he engulfed Toshiro into his arms and kissed him full on the lips in front of everyone. Shock registered in Toshiros body but he soon moulded into it and the two men kissed like there was no one else around them. Ichigo wrapped his arms securely around his back and Toshiros arms soon wrapped their way around Ichigos neck as their mouths moved together opening and closing in an urgent display of affection. Very soon they heard the entire crowds cheering and Ichigo was sure Robert Downy Jr had just arrived but he didn’t care because he was kissing his boyfriend.

Toshiro soon pulled back with a chuckle and pushed his hands against Ichigos chest to push him away. Ichigo broke away grinning like a kid in love because technically that’s exactly what he was.

‘I love you too gorgeous,’ he smiled happily and Toshiros eyes softened, his hand coming up to cup at his cheek and run his thumb across it. Then they kissed once more but it was gentle and they broke apart quickly. Ichigo soon realised that there was a lot of noise happening around them. He glanced around to see that the kiss they’d just had had been put up on massive screens that had been playing a trailer for the movie they were about to see. He blinked and felt his cheeks flush. His entire family would have seen that. The entire world would have seen that. He stepped away from Toshiro and they both fixed their outfits as Toshiro turned to the now crying woman.

‘That was so beautiful,’ she had already been handed a tissue and dabbed at her cheeks. ‘How long have you two been together?’

‘Too long, long enough for me to fall for the big lump.’ He was back to his usual self now and Ichigo walked to Yukio who took a sharp intake of breath and let it out slowly.

‘Did you know?’ Yukio hissed at him, ‘that he was going to do that?’

‘No, I had no idea.’ Ichigo said back to him but he couldn’t stop the massive grin on his face.

‘I’m now prepared to work all night,’ Yukio ran a tired hand down his face. ‘He’s no idea the work load he’s just dumped on me. I will be charging him triple time.’ The blond grumbled and Ichigo chuckled. He felt for Yukio but at the same time he really didn’t care. Toshiro had just said he loved him. Literally nothing else in the world mattered to him right now.

 

Once they were sat down in their seats in the theatre it was as the other celebrities made their way down the red carpet. Ichigo could now actually put his arm around Toshiro and act like they were together. Many people came up and congratulated them on their bold display and Ichigo could now lean in and kiss his cheek whenever he wanted, which was a lot of the time.

‘Stop it,’ Toshiro chuckled after the fifth kiss as he tried to shove Ichigo away. Yukio came up to the seat and sat down glaring at them.

‘Honestly the phone is ringing off the hook,’ he hissed at Toshiro, ‘now everyone wants you in for interviews so they can question you about your newly revealed sexuality and sex life.’

‘I hope you told them-‘ Ichigo started.

‘Where to go? Yeah I did,’ Yukio scowled and pulled his own hip flask out and started drinking straight from it.

‘Thanks Yukio, I won’t be doing any more interviews for a while, unless Ellen asks me on. She’s literally the only person I’ll do a show with right now.’

‘Noted,’ Yukio mumbled, ‘and I already thought you would so they’re calling us back with dates and times.’ He smirked and Toshiro grinned back at him.

‘Yukio, would you like to become a permanent member of Team Hitsugaya?’ Toshiro asked and the blond looked a little shocked but nodded.

‘Yeah of course, as long as I get to annoy the fuck out of your boyfriend,’ Ichigo scowled at the comment. They’d been having such a nice moment up until that point.

‘Well then, welcome to the team,’ Toshiro chuckled as the last of the celebrities trickled in and Yukio went and got a massive popcorn and chocolates.

‘Are you really planning on eating all that?’ Ichigo asked amused as he eyed all the snacks the British boy had.

‘Hey you two have each other, I’m a lonely guy over here. I’ll eat what I want,’ the blond scowled at him and started to devour his food as the lights dimmed.

The movie was really good, it was nearly as good as Guardians of the Galaxy but just lacked that little bit of extra humour. It was also incredibly bloody and had a rather vivid sex scene. Ichigo had not been prepared for it to be an 18+ movie but Toshiro told him it was much more like Deadpool than anything else.

During the sex scene Toshiros hand made it onto his thigh and he stroked rather suggestively up and down his leg. Ichigo was gritting his teeth and trying not to think about all the things he was going to do to the boy that night when they finally got back to the hotel. Then again trying _not_ to think about something was never a good way to go about it because it just left you thinking about it. He could feel himself growing hard in his suit trousers and he tried to adjust his position for some relief as Toshiro continued his actions. Throwing his boyfriend a glare he could very clearly see the smug smirk on his face and Ichigo would have leaned over and kissed it off him if the sound wouldn’t interrupt the movie. Instead he turned back towards the screen watching the two main characters fuck while his boyfriends hand stroked up his leg and then grasped his erection. Ichigo nearly let out a yelp and he did jump in his seat a little. Yukio looked at him questioningly from the corner of his eye and Ichigo felt like his face was on fire.

‘Sex scenes make you uncomfortable?’ Yukio whispered at him.

‘No my boyfriend cupping me is making me uncomfortable,’ he hissed back at the blond and felt the boys eyes move down to where Toshiros hand was very obviously now sliding into Ichigos pants.

Yukio threw a bit of popcorn at Toshiros head and the prodigy chuckled but otherwise did not remove his hand. Ichigo could feel those fingers seeking him out, sliding down into the waistband of his boxers and then gently brushing against his head. He closed his eyes and tried not to focus on the feeling too much as his body betrayed him and his cock twitched with need as Toshiro grazed his fingers around its head. The strawberry bit his lower lip and Toshiro took the entire thing into his hand and gave it a very definitive tug sending a wave of pleasure shooting up Ichigos spine.

The movie lasted far too long and even though Toshiro did eventually remove his hand Ichigo was still hard thinking about all the things he was going to do to the boy that night. When they were standing up Ichigo was trying to stay hidden behind Toshiro who looked far too smug for his own good. A number of people were coming up to them and asking if they were going to the big party and Ichigo had to step forward.

‘Sorry Toshiro has some private business to attend too.’ He sent them away with a disappointed look and Toshiro frowned at him.

‘No I don’t?’

‘Yes you do.’

‘What’s this private business?’

‘Me fucking you,’ he was promptly hushed by the tiny genius whose face had gone as bright as the carpet they’d just been walking on as Ichigo had not even been remotely quiet as he said it. There were a few chuckles of people who had managed to hear it and Ichigo got a definitive high five from one of the gay producers.

 

Yukio wished them a good night as he went into his room for the night and they gave him the promise that they wouldn’t be _too_ loud. With nothing to hide now, Ichigo openly walked into his suit after him and as soon as the doors were closed he grabbed the young prodigy and yanked back up against the door. He crushed their lips together as his hands came up to shove the white tux jacket down off his shoulders. The kiss was so urgent and Ichigo wasted no time in grinding up against him to make sure he knew how hard he was. From the feel of things Toshiro was already there with him.

‘I-Ichigo, there could still be people listening,’ he hissed in his ear. Sounding more amused than angry.

‘There were people in the cinema and you didn’t give a shit about teasing me, let them listen.’ Ichigo scoffed against his lips as he crushed them together once again. Teeth scraped off each other and tongues danced furiously between their open mouths as Ichigo yanked the boys tie off him and discarded it on the floor somewhere. They were just all hands as they rushed to remove as much clothing as possible.

‘We’re not even going to make it to the bedroom,’ Toshiro groaned when Ichigo latched onto a sensitive section of his neck after discarding his shirt to the floor. Ichigo lifted the smaller man up into his arms as his legs wrapped around his waist and made his way over to the bedroom. He didn’t feel like that night they should fuck on a floor, especially since he didn’t want to hurt the tiny male and he wanted to fuck him hard without worrying he maybe hurting him in other ways.

Once inside the bedroom Ichigo threw him onto the bed and proceeded to climb over him, Toshiro ripped Ichigos shirt off and his small hands came down to the clasp of his belt. He discarded it as Ichigo ravished his mouth once again, sucking his lower lip into his own and groaning as Toshiros hands brushed against his erection in a desperate attempt to push his trousers down his legs. Once Ichigos arousal was free Toshiro broke apart the kiss and Ichigo leaned back as Toshiro leaned forward, wrapping his lips around the large organ swallowing and sucking and sending waves upon waves of pleasure up and down Ichigos whole body.

‘ _F-fuck_ ,’ he hissed, his eyes closing over and his hand threading into the white locks of the smaller man, ‘ _Toshiro_.’ The prodigy sucked as good as he did everything else, dipping down low to take as much in as he could and then coming back up to swirl his tongue around the head and drive it into the slit. His hand wrapped around the base that he couldn’t fit into his mouth and he strokes with his sucks building up a nice harsh rhythm. Soon Ichigo hissed and pushed him back down into the bed shaking uncontrollably.

‘You nearly came,’ Toshiro smirked at him.

‘Well you’re really fucking good at that it’s not my fault.’ Ichigo hissed at him. The strawberry tried to distract himself from his near erection by yanking Toshiros trousers down and off onto the floor positioning himself over him as he leaned down to kiss him. Toshiro groaned and squirmed away from him.

‘Where are you going?’ Ichigo was a little amused as the boy twisted his body around and crawled across the bed towards the bedside table where their bottle of lube had been hidden. He went to reach for it but was halted by a harsh spank to his ass that had him hissing into the room. Ichigo smirked, the sound sent more heat to his groin as he watched the way his ass trembled when he did it, licking his lips he did it again. Toshiro groaned and grabbed the bottle of lube wriggling his ass in the air and Ichigo pulled his ass flush against his groin where he proceeded to rub his cock up and down the boys crack. Toshiro passed him the bottle of lube and Ichigo popped the lid, coating his three fingers he pushed the first finger in and Toshiro moaned against the feeling. He pushed his ass further back against Ichigos hand and the strawberry pulled out and thrust two fingers in earning a beautiful moan around the room. He curled them expertly locating the sweet spot inside him instantly and Toshiro groaned.

‘ _I-Ichi… gods_ ,’ he moaned pushing himself back against his fingers.

‘Don’t worry handsome, I’ll screw you good I promise,’ Ichigo chuckled from behind him and pulled his fingers out to push three into him and stretch him. Toshiro was taking it all really well that he threw a couple of spanks in against his ass if for no reason other than hearing the sound of it vibrating around the room. He continued to abuse that spot inside him until the prodigy was begging for something more.

‘ _I-Ichigo please… I need you_ ,’ he hissed and Ichigo flipped the boy over with his large arms and reached down to hook his legs up around his waist. He reached down and gave the boy a kiss as he begun to push inside. He loved the noises Toshiro made when he pushed inside of him, the whimpering helpless mewling noises.

‘ _I-ichi-ichi_ -‘ he gasped his back arching helplessly off the bed and his eyes shut tight against the waves of pleasure. Once he was inside Ichigo gave him very little time to adjust before he hoisted the boys legs up his waist further and began to drive in and out of that tight little ass.

‘ _Fuckkkkkk_ ,’ the boy hissed raked his nails across the bed as the sound of skin slapping against skin sounded around the room. Ichigo was panting with every second and because of the boys actions against him in the cinema and the feeling of driving into the man he loved he knew he wouldn’t last long. In a bid to make Toshiro come just as quickly as he was going too he reached down and grasped his erection and began to stroke him in quick thrusts matching the rhythm of his pounding.

‘ _F-fuck Ichigo, I-I’m gonna_ ,’ the boy groaned his back arching off the mattress as he came undone splashing his release up himself and his muscles clamping down around Ichigo. With a hiss the strawberry emptied himself inside the smaller male and kept going until he was dry of his own release.

They lay panting together for a while before Ichigo crawled over him and kissed him gently on the lips. It was slow and caring and Ichigo poured a lot of love into it.

‘I love you handsome,’ Ichigo cooed against his lips.

‘I love you too you stupid prat.’

‘Well this prat is going to fuck you all night long,’ Ichigo chuckled pulling back to look at those giant teal eyes.

‘Promise?’

‘I promise.’


	22. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter of my first ever fan fiction!

The club was literally banging and the bodies were all pressed up against each other. Two bodies in particular were moving and grinding together in time to the music and they didn’t have a care in the world. They didn’t care because now they were finally out in public. No one interrupted them as they could clearly see that the two men were busy, but they had come here for a particular reason. Mostly it has been Ichigos idea but his diminutive boyfriend had been on board in a heartbeat. It didn’t take long for the scene to unfold.

‘The fuck are you two doing here?’ the voice growled at them from through the crowd of dancing and grinding bodies. Ichigo glanced up at the same time as Toshiro did.

‘Dancing,’ Toshiro said smoothly to the tall man.

‘Well you can just fuck off,’ he snarled back.

‘You must be Kusaka,’ Ichigo said, stepping forward a little and in front of his smaller boyfriend. ‘I’m Ichigo, it’s a pleasure to meet you.’

‘Fuck off, this little slut isn’t worth your time-‘ he didn’t get a chance to finish because in one fluid motion Ichigo had ripped back his fist and punched him square in the face. He went crashing to the floor clearly out cold and Ichigo felt the tug on his hand from cold fingers. He allowed himself to be pulled away as the crowd gathered around the fallen man and the two boys burst out the back door to the club laughing hysterically.

‘Oh fuck, oh shit there goes my nice reputation,’ Toshiro laughed as they both ran down the streets.

‘It was me, who did it,’ Ichigo chuckled struggling to keep up with the boy. Despite his size he was bloody fast. 

‘The media are going to be all over this,’ he didn’t sound like he cared at all and Ichigo reached out to grab his swinging hand, pulling them to a halt. He pushed the boy up against a wall gently and kissed him full on the lips.

‘You know, the whole purpose of a get away car was that you were to use it,’ Rangiku didn’t sound upset. Actually she sounded very amused as Ichigo broke away from ravishing his boyfriend up against the wall and turned back to her.

‘Sorry Rangiku,’ he grinned at her, she rolled her eyes back at him.

‘No you’re not, get in the damn car,’ she laughed and they quickly climbed in the back and she sped off in the direction of her house.

 

It had been over a month since their return from London and the two boys were very much out in the open. Yukio had got to come back with them and took a two hour flight to spend some much needed time off with his husband, he’d returned 3 days later looking a lot happier. He even annoyed Ichigo less and the strawberry came to realise the ‘British’ humour he displayed came down to how much sex he’d had in the last month.

Rukia had gone into labour three weeks earlier than scheduled but had given birth to a healthy baby girl. She’d had to stay in hospital with her a little longer than everyone would have liked but Toshiro covered all her medical bills and ensured she had a private room where Renji could stay with her. They’d been allowed to take her home just a few nights prior and had been over the moon. Ichigo had never realised how good Toshiro was with children until he’d watched him in the hospital a few days after she was born, holding her and stroking her face. The baby had been so transfixed with his eyes she’d stopped crying immediately and let him rock her gently to sleep. Ichigo had decided that Toshiro would make an excellent father one day. It was just another thing the little prodigy could excel in.

Rangiku and Gin were due for a summer wedding though they’d decided to have it the next year when they’d had more time to plan. Rangiku wanted a big extravagant wedding and Gin was letting her do anything she wanted. He’d been saving for a very long time it seemed, apparently he’d said to her that he’d been saving since the day they met because he knew from that first day he was going to marry her. Toshiro had just smiled at the news but Ichigo swooned and cried with Rangiku.

The swap to the new university had gone smoothly thanks to Toshiro helping him fund the costs, he had also bought Ichigo a jet to go and see his family. It was the same jet Ichigo let Yukio borrow to go and see his husband in California too and the next time Ichigo was going to see his family Yukio was going to join him on the trip to see his husband again.

‘I think we’re going to get into a lot of trouble for that,’ Ichigo smirked.

‘It’s okay I’ll bail you out, assault isn’t too bad, and you didn’t break anything did you?’ Toshiro asked him and Ichigo shook his head. He’d been very careful about the way his fist collided with the boys face.

‘Likely just burst his nose.’

‘You’ll be fine,’ Toshiro waved it off and Ichigo grinned.

‘Would you still come visit me if I ended up in prison babe?’

‘Yes, though I don’t think orange is your colour.’ Toshiro smirked at him.

‘I don’t think anything will spoil Toshiros angelic like reputation now,’ Rangiku chuckled from the front seat. ‘Besides you two can’t go to jail,’ she said pulling up outside her house as they all got out the car. She locked it gracefully over her shoulder and grinned to them. ‘Who would be my maids of honour?’

‘You want us… to be your… maids of honour?’ Toshiro looked at her dumb struck.

‘You’d look cute in a dress babe,’ Ichigo cooed from the side and Toshiro turned and punched him lightly in the arm.

‘Yes, well not maids but you get my point. You’re going to be my best men but I want lady events thrown for me. Who best to do it than my two gay best friends?’ she asked and Ichigo hugged her tightly.

‘Of course, we’d love to help you with this!’

‘You won’t be alone, Rukia will be helping too. I want you all there with me.’

‘The gesture is sweet Rangiku,’ Toshiro smirked, ‘I have just one request. We do not hire from that club,’ he thrust his thumb over his shoulder in the direction they’d just come, ‘for your stripers.’

They walked inside to find everyone already there; Rukia, little baby Rosie, Gin, Renji and Yukio who’d been easily adopted into their New York family. Rangiku adored him and he seemed content with putting up with her big breasted hugs. He was also an exceptional worker and had taken on part of the role of assistant while Ichigo finished his final year of University.

‘How did the punching go?’ Yukio asked quickly to Ichigo as they’d decided to inform the boy should he hear anything about it.

‘Fine, we made it out fast.’ Ichigo chuckled, ‘don’t really think anyone saw us maybe one or two people and it happened too fast no one would have recorded it.’ The blond broke into a wicked chuckle and clapped Ichigo on the back.

‘Good lad,’ he said and moved away to sit with everyone.

Ichigo couldn’t help but smile around the room, he would never have expected a year ago that this is exactly where he’d be and he never would have expected that the gorgeous man with the pocket watch would be his.

The word ‘lust’ was now a four letter word he was more than familiar with as those two giant teal eyes turned to him and his boyfriend flashed him a grin. It was a word he lived every day by in his boyfriends company.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know, your thoughts!


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